Report  of  the  Committee  on  Med- 
ical Topogra-   .    teorology, 
Endemics  and  Epidemics, made 
to_  the  Medical  Society  of 
the  State  of  California 

By 
Marshall  Mead  Chipman 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT   LOS  ANGELES 


ROBERT  ERNEST  COWAN 


With  (Regards  of  the  Author. 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMITTEE 


—ON— 


MEDICAL  TOPOGRAPHY,  METEOROLOGY, 
ENDEMICS  AND'  EPIDEMICS, 

MADE  TO  THE 

VtEDICAL  SOCIETY  OF  THE  STATE  OF  CALIFORNIA 

— AT   THE — 

ANNUAL  SESSION,    HELD   AT  SAN  FRANCISCO,   IN    APRIL,    1883 
BY  M.    M.    CHIPMA.N,   M.  D., 

OF    SAN    FRANCISCO,    CHAIRMAN    OF    COMMITTEE. 

Forest  Preservation  and  Timber  Cultivation. 

(Extracted  from  the  Volume  of  Transactions  of  the  Society.) 


SAN   FKANCISCO: 

!        WlNTERBURN    &    Co.,    PRINTERS    AND    ELECTROTYPERS,    417    CLAY    STREET, 

1883. 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMITTEE . 

—ON- 

MEDICAL  TOPOGRAPHY,  METEOROLOGY, 
ENDEMICS  AND  EPIDEMICS, 

MADE  TO  THE 

MEDICAL  SOCIETY  OF  THE  STATE  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

—AT   THE— 

ANNUAL  SESSION,   HELD  AT  SAN  FRANCISCO,   IN   APRIL,    1833 
BY  M.   M.    CHIPMAN,   M.  D., 

OF    SAN    FRANCISCO,    CHAIRMAN    OF    COMMITTEE. 

Forest  Preservation  and  Timber  Cultivation. 

(Extracted  from  the  Volume  of  Transactions  of  the  Society.) 


SAN   FRANCISCO: 

WlNTERBCRN  &  CO.,  PRINTERS  AND  ELECTROTYPE RS,  417  ClAY  SfREET, 
1883. 


REPORT   OF    COMMITTEE 

—  ON — 

MEDICAL  TOPOGRAPHY,  METEOROLOGY, 
ENDEMICS,  ETC. 

Importance    of    Forest    Preservation    and   Timber 
Cultivation. 

By  M.   M.   CHIPMAN,   M.  D.,  Chairman. 


ME.   PRESIDENT  AND  MEMBERS  OF  THE  MEDICAL  SOCIETY  OF  THE  STATE  OF 
s  CALIFORNIA:     After  the  earth  had  performed  its  annual  cycle  for  an  incom- 
5  putable  period,  during  the  cooling  off  process,  the  mighty  convulsions  of 
"  conflicting  elements,  the   gradual  formation    of   soil   upon   its   surface,  the 
r  development  of  herb  and  fruit,  and  of  animal  life  adapted  to  his  uses  and 
t  control,  then  was  man  created,  or,  as  Mr.  Darwin  would  say,  developed, 
3  and  given  dominion  over  every  living  thing  that  moveth  upon  the  earth; 
3  and  the  first   commandment  received  from  his  Creator  was:     "  Be  fruitful 
i  aud  multiply  and  replenish  the  earth,  and  subdue  it."     And  as  we  examine 
^through  the  pages  of  history,  whether  among  the  nations  who  have  been 
9  conversant   with   the    Sacred    Law   and   Eecord,    or   of    those   who   were 
unacquainted  with  the  Hebraic  and   Christian  systems,  we  find  that  the 
highest  physical  development,  the  farthest  advance  in  civilization,  and  the 
greatest  national  power  have  been  attained  by  those  branches  of  the  race 
who  have  appeared  to  be  most  earnest  in  carrying  out  the  original  injunc- 
tion.    And  of  the  leading  men  and  great  thinkers  of   all  ages,  those  who 
have  been  most  venerated  and  who  have  earned   and  received  most  of  the 
enduring  gratitude  of  their  fellow-men,  have   either  been  discoverers  of 
additional  resources,  or  organizers  of  movements  in  the  same  general  direc- 
tion  of   accumulation   and   advancement;    and   at   this   period  of   human 
existence  no  one  who  claims  to  be  in  sympathy  with  the  cultivated  humani- 
tarian sentiment  of   the  age,  even  though   not   venerating  its   source,  will 
dissent  from  the  binding  force  of  the  vital  principles  enunciated  in  the 
great  fundamental  law. 

If  we  institute  inquiry  as  to  what  this  last  and  highest  order  of  animated 
creation  has  accomplished  in  compliance  with  the  great  trust  devolved  upon 
him,  we  shall  find  that  a  great  deal  of  energy  and  capacity  have  been  dis- 
played in  certain  directions;  that  his  seed  has  greatly  multiplied,  and  that 
*  his  successors  have  spread  over  all  the  inhabitable  parts  of  the  continents 
and  to  the  isles  of  the  sea;  that  he  has  subjugated  the  animal  kingdom  and 

293167 


reduced  it  to  his  will;  and  has  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth  brought  forth 
the  metals  and  moulded  them  to  his  purposes;  has  brought  under  cultiva- 
tion a  vast  area  of  earth's  surface;  and  that  throughout  the  whole  world  we 
find  the  results  of  his  toil,  the  monuments  of  his  intelligent  labor,  and  the 
specimens  of  his  inventive  genius  and  skillful  handiwork;  in  the  great  cities 
of  his  building;  in  his  massive  and  beautiful  palaces;  his  immense  and 
numerous  systems  of  public  improvement;  and  in  the  ingenious  and  com- 
plicated devices  for  the  elimination  of  force,  the  propulsion  of  conveyances, 
and  the  transmission  of  intelligence,  whereby  the  whole  civilized  world  is 
brought  into  immediate  intercommunication  and  into  close  commercial  and 
social  relation  and  interdependence;  and  to  this  we  may  add  the  many 
appliances  for  human  comfort,  the  numerous  provisions  for  the  maintenance 
and  care  of  those  who  are  unable  to  maintain  and  care  for  themselves;  a 
high  development  of  art;  great  advancement  in  the  several  sciences,  and  a 
comparative  general  diffusion  of  education  and  knowledge.  But  if  we 
examine  farther  into  the  events  of  the  past,  and  as  to  the  early  and  present 
condition  of  this  vice-royal  domain,  we  shall  find  that  this  high  steward  has 
been  in  some  respects,  to  our  infinite  regret,  most  derelict  and  culpable,  as 
the  terms  of  his  dominion  whilst  charging  him  with  the  subjugation  of  the 
earth  in  nowise  gave  permission  to  destroy  any  part  thereof;  on  the  con- 
trary, the  injunction  to  multiply  and  replenish  as  certainly  enjoined  the 
principle  of  conservation,  as  the  lessening  in  any  degree  the  earth's  popula- 
tion-sustaining resources,  would  to  the  same  extent  defeat  the  primary 
injunction  itself,  at  whatever  future  period  the  population  might  become  so 
numerous  as  to  require  the  full  measure  of  its  productive  capacity.  And 
yet  the  comparison  of  ancient  history  and  geography  with  the  accounts  of 
modern  travelers  and  scientists,  show  that  the  space  of  the  earth's  surface, 
embracing  Northern  Africa,  Southern  and  Eastern  Europe  in  part,  and 
Western  and  Central  Asia,  that  vast  central  region  in  which  the  histoz-y  of 
the  race  had  its  commencement,  and  throughout  which,  in  different  sections 
and  regions,  alternately  existed  the  most  populous  and  most  advanced 
nations  of  their  times,  the  dominating  empires  of  their  respective  ages, 
where  were  exhibited  a  display  of  regal  magnificence  and  splendor  unequal- 
ed  in  modern  times,  has  been  changed  by  the  occupancy  and  acts  of  man 
himself,  either  to  utter  barrenness,  in  some  regions,  or  in  other  parts  to 
conditions  in  which  the  soil  is  capable  of  sustaining  only  a  sparse  and 
impoverished  population;  that  those  countries  in  which  the  great  armies  of 
the  ancient  Assyrians  and  Persians,  and  of  the  Crusaders  and  Tartars,  in 
later  ages,  could,  without  an  organized  commissariat,  secure  adequate  sup- 
plies in  long  marches,  in  our  times  would  scarcely  afford  forage  for  a  single 
regiment,  the  outlines  and  remains  of  broken  and*  decayed  internal  improve- 
ments and  the  ruins  of  deserted  cities  being  the  only  visible  evidence  of  the 
former  fertility,  populousness,  aud  opulence. 

The  late  Hon.  George  P.  Marsh,  in  his  work,  "  The  Earth  as  Modified 
by  Human  Action,"  says: 

' '  It  appears,  then,  that  the  fairest  and  fruitf ulest  provinces  of  the  Ro- 
man Empire,  precisely  that  portion  of  terrestrial  surface,  in  short,  which 
about  the  commencement  of  the  Christian  Era  was  endowed  with  the  greatest 
superiority  of  soil,  climate,  and  position,  which  had  been  carried  to  the  high- 
est pitch  of  physical  improvement,  and  which  thus  combined  the  natural  and 
artificial  conditions  best  fitting  it  for  the  habitation  and  enjoyment  of  a  dense 


and  highly  refined  and  cultivated  population,  are  now  completely  exhausted 
of  their  fertility,  or  so  diminished  in  productiveness,  as  with  the  exception 
of  a  few  favored  oases  that  have  escaped  the  general  ruin,  to  be  no  longer 
capable  of  affording  sustenance  to  civilized  man.  If  to  this  realm  of  desola- 
tion we  add  the  now  wasted  and  solitary  soils  of  Persia  and  the  remoter 
East,  that  once  fed  their  millions  on  milk  and  honey,  we  shall  see  that  a  ter- 
ritory larger  than  all  Europe,  the  abundance  of  which  sustained,  in  bygone 
centuries,  a  population  scarcely  inferior  to  that  of  the  whole  Christian  world 
of  the  present  day,  has  been  entirely  withdrawn  from  human  use,  or  at  best 
is  thinly  inhabited  Jby  tribe?  too  few  in  numbers,  too  poor  in  superfluous 
products,  and  too  little  advanced  in  culture  and  the  social  arts  to  contribute 
anything  to  the  general  moral  and  material  interests  of  the  great  common- 
wealth of  man." 

It  is  sad  to  contemplate  that  this  immense  region,  which  at  the  advent 
of  the  human  race  was  the  most  important,  considering  climate  and  produc- 
tive resources,  of  any  equal  conterminous  space  on  the  earth's  surface,  can 
never  be  restored  to  sustain  again  its  myriad  population,  or  to  be  the  theater 
of  like  busy  scenes  or  great  events;  and  it  would  now  appear,  in  the  light  of 
the  present,  that  the  woes  and  desolation  denounced  by  certain  of  the  He- 
brew prophets  against  the  powerful  nations  of  antiquity,  were  just  in  ac- 
cordance, measure  for  measure,  with  their  own  improvidence  and  terrestrial 
destructiveness.  But  if  we  trace  this  matter  still  farther  we  shall  ascertain 
that  this  destructive  tendency  has  not  been  confined  within  the  regions 
which  were  the  seat  of  ancient  empire,  but  that  other  parts  of  Asia  have  also 
suffered;  that  portions  of  Europe  which  were  comparatively  barbarous  and 
uncultivated  at  the  commencement  of  the  Christian  Era,  have  since  been 
worn  out  and  materially  deteriorated  both  in  soil  and  climate;  that  parts  of 
Africa,  beyond  the  northern  countries  referred  to,  have  been  made  poorer 
by  man's  occupancy,  and  other  parts  allowed  to  become  waste  from  neglect 
and  lack  of  protection;  and  that  even  both  divisions  of  the  continent  las^ 
opened  to  the  settlement  of  the  cultivating  races  have  already  begun  to  ex_ 
hibit,  visibly,  in  certain  sections,  the  deteriorating  effects  of  their  presence 

And  having  gone  through  and  collated  the  works  of  the  available  au- 
thors upon  this  subject,  I  estimate  as  the  sum  of  their  statements  that  the  to- 
tal lessening  of  the  earth's  productive  resources,  from  the  advent  of  man  to 
the  present  time,  is  fully  equal  to  and  perhaps  may  be  in  excess  of  one-third 
of  its  original  population-sustaining  capacity,  and  that  principally  through 
the  wastefulness  and  incompetence  of  its  human  occupants.  And  wtre  we 
to  calculate  the  future  of  the  race  by  its  past  history,  considering  the  pres- 
ent rate  of  increase  of  population,  and  that  the  period  must  soon  arrive  when 
the  whole  of  the  earth's  surface  will  be  in  possession  of  a  population  neces- 
sarily dependent  upon  agriculture  as  its  source  of  food  supply,  we  would 
reach  the  conclusion  that  the  acme  of  its  existence  is  not  far  in  advance- 
when  through  the  decadence  and  degeneration  of  the  following  centuries  it 
would  more  rapidly  retrograde  to  a  condition  equivalent  to  its  prehistoric  ex- 
istence. 

It  is  supposed  that  the  torrid  and  temperate  regions  of  primeval  earth 
were  mostly  wooded,  and  that  the  clearing  of  the  land  to  make  room  for 
more  needed  products  was  one  of  the  first  tasks  of  subjugation  ;  but  subse- 
quently, as  human  settlements  increased  and  extended,  forest  fires  grew  in 
frequency,  and  with  the  devastations  of  war  and  the  uses  for  building  and 


fuel  of  large  cities,  and  from  other  causes,  to  a  great  extent,  carelessness, 
wantonness,  and  a  lack  of  forethought,  the  earth  has  been  so  far  stripped  of 
its  timber  growth  as  to  not  only  cause  scarcity  in  many  parts  for  building 
and  other  domestic  uses,  but  with  even  much  more  serious  result,  it  has  been 
demonstrated  that  the  excessive  forest  destruction  has  been  the  chief  factor 
in  effecting  the  great  detrimental  changes  in  climate  and  productiveness  to 
which  the  earth  has  been  subjected. 

Charles  P.  Daly,  L.L.D.,  President  of  the  American  Geographical  So- 
ciety, in  his  annual  address  before  that  society  for  the  year  1880,  made  the 
following  statement : 

"  The  extreme  dryness  and  consequent  lack  of  moisture  for  the  fertiliza- 
tion of  the  fields  in  parts  of  India  and  China,  hitherto  fruitful  and  thickly 
populated,  is  attributed  to  the  wanton  destruction  of  the  forests  on  the  hill- 
sides, the  observations  made  by  Mr.  Milliard,  in  1879,  in  a  visit  to  the 
famine- stricken  province  of  Shan  Si,  in  China,  being  confirmatory  of  that 
view." 

The  Tartar  province  of  Great  Bucharia,  only  fifty  years  ago,  was  a  very 
beautiful,  fertile,  and  productive  country,  but  since  that  time  it  has  been 
stripped  of  its  forests  by  injudicious  clearing  and  by  fire,  during  the  ravages 
of  a  civil  war,  and  the  consequences  are  that  the  water-courses  are  dried  up, 
the  irrigating  canals  are  empty,  and  the  moving  sands  of  the  neighboring 
deserts  being  no  longer  restrained  by  the  barriers  of  forest  are  every  day 
gaining  upon  it,  and  the  prospect  is,  will  finish  by  transforming  that  whole 
country  into  a  desert  as  desolate  and  solitary  as  those  from  which  the  sands 
are  now  drifting. 

The  Russians,  in  the  conquest  of  the  Caucassus,  destroyed  some  of  the 
forests,  which  served  as  protection  to  the  contending  Circassians,  and  in  so 
doing  changed  those  districts  into  a  desert. 

Spain,  which  three  centuries  and  a  half  ago  was  the  richest  and  one  of 
the  most  powerful  nations  of  Europe,  owes  much  of  her  decadence  to  the 
loss  of  productiveness  of  her  soil,  and  the  consequent  impoverishment  of 
her  people  from  the  excessive  denudation  of  her  territory. 

In  France,  extensive  tracts  of  country,  which  a  thousand  years  ago  con- 
sisted of  alternate  woodland  and  fertile  meadow  and  farming  lands,  have,  by 
being  stripped  bare,  become  barren  and  incapable  of  sustaining  but  a  small 
proportion  of  their  former  population  ;  and  Italy  has  large  tracts  of  the 
same  character,  and  from  the  same  cause  ;  and  several  other  countries  of 
Europe  are  also  known  to  have  sustained  similar  loss  in  a  greater  or  less 
proportion,  and  probably  there  is  not  a  country  in  that  geographic  division 
which  has  not  suffered  more  or  less  deteriorating  effects  from  this  same 
cause. 

Great  damage  has  been  sustained  in  Switzerland,  in  France,  and  in 
Italy,  in  the  mountain  districts  and  on  the  level  lands  adjacent,  on  account 
of  the  washing  and  abrasion  of  the  sloping  lands,  the  soil,  rocks,  and  gravel 
being  carried  down  to  cover  and  ruin  the  valleys,  because  of  the  clearing  off 
from  about  the  sources  of  the  streams. 

In  the  Italian  provinces  of  Parma  and  Lombardy,  where  formerly  the 
crops  were  pretty  well  assured,  the  clearing  of  the  Appenines  has  material- 


ly  changed  the  summer  climate,  the  sirocco  prevailing  of  late  years  to  the 
great  injury  of  the  harvests  and  vineyards,  and  some  seasons  completely 
ruining  the  crops. 

In  some  parts  of  Italy,  of  France,  and  Swizerland,  the  Spring  season 
has  been  rendered  much  more  backward  and  more  subject  to  late  frosts  by 
the  felling  of  forests  which  had  previously  sheltered  from  the  cold  winds, 
which  now  stunt  the  vegetation  and  materially  lessen  the  certainty  and  suc- 
cess of  some  kinds  of  crops;  and  in  other  European  countries,  in  some  parts 
of  the  United  States,  and  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  similar  results  have 
been  observed. 

In  South  Africa,  great  changes  have  taken  place  in  the  meteorologic 
conditions  within  a  comparatively  recent  period,  on  account  of  excessive 
clearing,  the  country  having  beco'me  much  more  subject  to  drought  than 
formerly,  and  on  the  other  hand,  to  sudden  and  disastrous  inundations. 

Mauritius,  which  was  formerly  a  very  productive  island,  and  exported 
considerable  amounts  of  sugar,  and  was  noted  for  the  salubrity  of  its  climate, 
has  been  nearly  ruined  as  to  its  productiveness,  and  its  climate  changed  so 
that  it  has  become  a  hotbed  of  malaria,  because  of  the  destruction  of  its 
forests.  The  Island  of  Ceylon,  and  several  of  the  important  West  India 
Islands,  have  been  greatly  damaged  in  the  same  manner;  in  fact;  these  in- 
stances of  injurious  effect  might  be  continued  almost  indefinitely. 

Among  the  results  of  excessive  clearing  are  the  great  general  meteoro- 
logic changes  which  have  adversely  affected  a  vast  proportion  of  the  earth's 
surface,  thereby  increasing  the  prevalence  of  disease  and  cutting  short  the 
duration  of  human  life  by  the  greater  accumulation  of  heat  over  extensively 
denuded  surfaces,  and  the  increased  force  and  velocity  of  the  wind  and  sud- 
den changes  of  temperature  resulting  therefrom,  the  increase  in  frequency 
and  in  extent  and  violence  of  cyclones  and  tornadoes  being  sequences  and 
effects  of  the  same  disturbing  cause.  And  it  is  now  pretty  generally  un- 
derstood that  the  destruction  of  the  forests,  especially  over  the  mountain- 
ous and  hilly  regions,  where  the  streams  have  their  sources,  is  the  cause  of 
the  growing  tendency  to  increased  river  flooding  in  the  several  respects  of  fre- 
quency, more  rapid  rising,  greater  volumne  and  force  of  current,  as  well  as 
in  extent  of  inundation,  with  proportionate  increased  disaster  to  the  coun- 
tries and  communities  involved;  the  increased  prevalence  and  increased 
extent  of  malarious  and  other  diseases,  caused  by  the  greater  area  of  land 
submerged,  as  consequences  which  follow  later,  not  being  usually  included 
in  estimates  of  damages  in  such  cases.  While  the  scope  of  this  paper  will 
admit  of  but  a  small  number  of  the  illustrative  accounts,  and  but  little  of 
the  detail  in  description  and  circumstances,  yet  the  investigations  are  suffic- 
ient to  prove  that  the  excessive  and  very  general  denudation,  has  been  the 
principle  cause  of  the  great  physical  decadence  and  injurious  meteorologic 
changes  which  have  been  sustained. 

When  rain  falls  into  a  forest,  the  descent  is  broken  by  the  limbs  and  fol- 
iage of  the  trees,  and  the  fallen  leaves  and  other  forest  litter  covering  the 
ground  farther  protects  it  from  the  packing  effect  of  a  heavy  rainfall,  and  at 
the  same  time  restrains  the  water  from  flowing  off,  and  the  permeable  vege- 
table mold,  formed  of  the  decayed  leaves  and  twigs  serves  as  a  sponge  to 
hold  it  upon  the  firmer  soil  beneath  until  it  is  gradually  absorbed,  and  the 
roots  of  the  trees  conduct  it  on  down  into  the  subsoil.  And  sometimes  the 


8 

roots  themselves  will  penetrate  through  subsoil  so  compact  as  to  be  nearly 
impervious  to  water,  and  lead  it  below  into  more  porous  strata.  And  thus 
is  the  water  stored  during  seasons  of  superabundance,  to  break  out  in 
springs  at  points  of  lower  elevation,  where  the  stratum  it  rests  upon,  reaches 
the  surface,  or  to  be  raised  again  as  required,  through  the  roots  and  bodies 
of  the  trees,  and  exhaled  by  the  leaves,  to  perform  its  office  in  equalizing 
the  moisture  and  temperature  of  the  atmosphere. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  open  field  is  exposed  to  the  full  force  of  the  ele- 
ments, and  by  the  beating  of  the  heavy  storms,  followed  by  the  rapid  evap- 
oration from  direct  exposure  to  sun  and  wind,  the  soil  becomes  baked  and 
hardened,  and  when  the  rain  falls  there  is  a  tendency  to  gather  into  pools 
and  puddles  on  the  surface,  or  it  runs  off,  carrying  the  finest  particles  of 
soil  with  it,  and  on  sloping  lands  channel-ways  form,  by  which  the  water  is- 
the  more  rapidly  conducted  to  the  streams;  and  although  plowing  makes 
the  ground  permeable  to  the  depth  which  the  plow  reaches,  yet  wherever 
there  is  grade  sufficient  to  establish  a  current,  it  also  favors  the  washing 
away  of  the  soil. 

To  illustrate  effects,  under  different  conditions,  we  will  take  as  an  example 
two  converging  water-sheds,  embracing  a  large  area  of  country  which  is 
traversed  by  streams  having  their  sources  in  the  surrounding  high  lands, 
and  emptying  into  a  larger  stream,  the  common  outlet.  In  case  of  a  heavy 
rainfall,  in  the  natural  wooded  condition,  the  greater  part  of  the  water  is 
retained  and  absorbed,  and  what  is  not  thus  disposed  of  sipes  away  so  grad- 
ually, and  carries  so  little  of  earthy  substance  with  it,  that  it  but  slightly  dis- 
colors the  streams  into  which  it  runs,  and  does  not  fill  the  channels  beyond 
their  carrying  capacity,  and  the  level  country  along  their  banks  presents  no 
appearance,  by  abraded  surface,  deposits  of  sand  and  gravel,  or  by  other 
violence  to  nature,  to  indicate  the  actions  of  previous  floods,  and  as  dry 
weather  sets  in,  the  forest  trees  draw  from  their  ample  stores  the  moisture 
which  gives  them  life  and  clothes  them  with  verdure,  until  the  close  of  the 
season.  But  let  the  same  country  be  completely  stripped  of  ail  its  timber 
growth,  and  the  water  of  each  succeeding  rainfall  finds  its  way  into  the 
river  channels  with  increased  rapidity,  as  the  soil  of  the  naked  land  grows 
each  year  more  and  more  impermeable,  and  as  the  channel-ways  become 
more  completely  cut  out,  and  the  dark  flood,  as  it  sweeps  over  the  valley 
farms  and  submerges  the  bordering  towns,  bears  on  its  bosom  to  the  sea  and 
deposits  on  the  fields,  in  the  streets,  and  in  the  buildings  on  its  course,  and 
in  the  channels  of  the  rivers,  preparatory  for  the  more  extended  flood  to 
follow,  that  which,  over  the  country  from  which  it  has  been  gathered,  rep- 
resented millions  in  life-sustaining  food,  in  successive  crops  of  grain,  of 
vegetables  and  of  fruits,  and  during  the  ensuing  summer  the  streams  and 
springs  become  dried  up  and  the  soil  fails  to  furnish  moisture  to  the  grow- 
ing crops,  which  dwarf  and  shrivel  because  that  which  was  given  in  due 
season  has  run  to  waste.  And  this  is  the  commencement  of  annually  de- 
creasing harvests,  until  the  starving  inhabitants  commence  to  migrate  to 
other  countries  in  quest  of  food,  and  through  the  increasing  sterility,  in  the 
course  of  time,  the  whole  region  becomes  an  uninhabitable  desert. 


This  is  but  a  pen  picture  of  what  has  already  taken  place  over  an  im- 
mense area  of  the  earth,  either  according  to  the  full  representation  or  in  degree, 
and  is  simply  the  inevitable  result  of  the  violation  of  Nature's  immutable 
laws.  It  is  true  that  a  large  proportion  of  land  is  required  for  the  produc- 


tion  of  breadstuffs,  fruits,  vegetables,  and  pasturage;  but  the  shelter  and 
equalizing  influence  of  forests  are  equally  important,  and  in  countries  where 
the  wind  currents  and  meteorologic  conditions  are  such  as  tend  to  a  scant 
and  uncertain  supply  of  rain,  the  maintenance  of  a  certain  proportion  of 
woodland  is  a  prime  necessity,  in  order  to  insure  the  fruitfulness  of  the 
cultivated  lands,  and  to  obviate  the  gradual  dessication  and  deterioration 
which  are  sure  to  follow  excessive  clearing. 

Although  the  early  history  of  the  European  nations  exhibits  a  great  deal 
of  vandalism,  and  of  wastefulness  as  to  the  natural  resources  of  their 
respective  countries,  and  even  in  later  centuries  a  lack  of  wisdom  and  fore- 
thought to  take  steps  to  avert  very  serious  consequences,  yet  after  having 
already  suffered  occasional  want  and  scarcity  of  food  supply,  and  having 
been  confronted  by  the  grave  problem  for  the  immediate  future,  they  find 
enforced  upon  their  attention  that  which  has  been  ignored  until  quite 
recently  in  the  past,  and  which  may  be  stated  as  follows:  How  to  use  the 
earth  without  abusing  it;  or,  more  perspicuously,  how  to  make  a  living  off 
the  lands  in  our  possession,  without  impairing  their  productive  capacity,  or 
deteriorating  the  climatic  conditions,  in  our  own  day,  or  for  those  who  are 
to  hold  the  title  deeds  after  us?  And  we  may  hope  that  the  energy  of  the 
Caucasian  race,  and  the  greater  enlightenment  of  modern  civilization  may, 
with  some  degree  of  success,  be  able  to  cope  with  the  situation. 

Foi-est  preservation  and  forest  restoration  have  been  receiving  a  great 
deal  of  attention  in  some  of  the  countries  of  Europe,  during  the  last  quarter 
of  a  century,  and  most  European  countries  have  enacted  effective  laws  for 
forest  protection,  and  much  greater  advancement  has  been  made  in  forestry, 
in  several  of  those  countries,  than  in  the  United  States.  And  the  fact  that 
forests  are  there  largely  held  by  the  respective  general  and  municipal  gov- 
ernments, gives  opportunity  of  carrying  out  measures  of  forest  restoration 
with  less  impediment  than  could  be  done  with  conditions  of  ownership 
which  prevail  in  this  country,  although  in  France  and  in  some  other 
European  countries,  the  governments  assume  control  of  private  forests,  to 
limit  the  extent  of  cutting,  and  to  enforce  replanting  in  forest  trees  whenever 
it  is  thought  the  public  interests  require  it. 

The  French  Government  has  done"  a  great  deal  in  the  way  of  reboise- 
ment,  or  the  restoration  of  woodlands  on  denuded  tops  and  slopes  of  moun- 
tains, to  arrest  the  erosion  by  torrents,  which  was  ruining  the  lands  of  the 
valleys,  with  rock,  gravel  and  other  debris  which  was  being  carried  down 
over  them.  The  law  of  reboisement  was  passed  in  1860,  which  enables  the 
government  agents  to  take  possession  of  private  lands  wherever  so  situated 
that  it  is  necessary  they  should  be  included  in  the  plans  of  restoration,  and 
in  sixteen  years  from  the  commencement  on  the  Alps,  on  the  Cevennes,  and 
on  the  Pyrenees,  63,168  acres  had  been  successfully  replanted  at  an  enor- 
mous cost,  but  the  whole  expense  was  less  than  the  damage  which  might 
have  been  produced  by  a  single  flood. 

The  Governments  of  Italy  and  Switzerland  are  following  the  example  of 
France  in  measures  of  reboisement. 

The  Prussian  Government,  with  other  steps  for  the  advancement  of 
forestry,  has  parsed  laws  to  encourage  the  formation  of  forest  companies 
where  the  situation  is  such  that  tree  planting  and  cultivation  can  be  carried 


10 

on  to  better  advantage  by  association  than  by  individual  effort,  and 
municipal  governments  are  also  encouraged  to  engage  in  the  work  of 
restoration. 

The  maritime  nations  of  Europe  have  given  much  attention  to  the 
reclamation  of  the  sand  dunes,  and  to  arresting  the  movement  of  the  drifting 
sands  of  their  sea  coasts  on  to  the  arable  lands  adjoining  and  toward  the 
interior.  The  first  recorded  efforts  in  this  direction  were  commenced  in 
Denmark  and  in  France  about  one  hundred  years  ago,  and  have  been  con- 
tinued since,»in  France,  on  a  more  extensive  scale  than  by  any  other  nation. 

The  engineer  Bremontier,  after  having  devised  methods  of  restraining 
and  fixing  the  sands,  undertook,  under  the  patronage  of  the  French  Govern- 
ment, the  planting  of  maritime  pines,  which  he  carried  out  with  great  suc- 
cess. The  Department  of  Gascony  had  one  hundred  miles  of  sea  coast  cov- 
ered with  sand  dunes,  extending  from  four  to  eighteen  miles  in  breadth, 
back  from  the  beach,  and  some  of  the  dunes  were  hundreds  of  feet  in 
height.  Under  Bremontier's  superintendency  all  this  region  was  covered 
with  forest  growth,  and  since  his  time,  the  work  has  been  continued  by  tb.e 
French  Government,  and  at  the  present  time  over  the  whole  line  of  the 
French  Atlantic  Coast,  one  hundred  thousand  aq.res  of  forests,  valuable  for 
their  productions  of  turpentine,  resin  and  timber,  have  been  added  to  the 
national  resources,  and  a  still  greater  quantity  of  valuable  agricultural  land 
has  been  rescued  thereby  from  the  certain  destruction  with  which  it  was 
threatened  by  the  advancing  sand  hills.  And  adding  to  this  the  beneficial 
effect  upon  the  climate  to  the  interior  by  this  broad  belt  of  pine  timber  as  a 
protection  from  the  ocean  winds,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  results  achieved 
are  of  very  great  importance. 

George  B.  Emerson,  in  a  report  on  the  trees  and  shrubs  growing  in  the 
forests  of  Massachusetts,  states:  that  in  1872  he  visited  the  region  saved  by 
Bremontier,  and  that,  in  the  midst  of  the  recovered  region,  he  stopped  a  day 
or  two  at  a  beautiful  town  where  a  hundred  thousand  persons  from  Paris 
and  other  cities  of  France,  attracted  by  the  genial  climate  and  health  giving 
atmosphere  of  the  pine  forests,  had  passed  the  Winter.  He  also  states  that 
he  saw  in  many  places  deciduous  trees,  oaks,  ashes,  beeches  and  others, 
growing  luxuriantly  under  the  protection  of  the  pines. 

Schools  of  forestry  have  been  established  in  several  countries  of  Europe, 
and  in  Germany  special  plans  of  training  have  been  adopted,  including  the 
acquisition  of  practical  experience  by  devoting  a  certain  time  to  manual  la- 
bor in  tree  planting  and  timber  cultivation  under  the  direction  of  skilled  in- 
structors, and  graduates  of  these  institutions  are  eligible  to  government  ap- 
pointments or  to  enter  the  employment,  as  superintendents,  of  other  partie's. 
There  are  nine  schools  of  this  description  iu  the  German  Empire.  There 
are  several  countries  in  Europe,  also,  where  stations  are  kept  up  by  the  gov- 
ernments for  making  meteorologic  observations  to  ascertain  the  comparative 
conditions  of  atmosphere,  rainfall,  etc.,  as  between  forest-covered  situations 
and  the  open  fields. 

In  the  United  States,  forestry  is  an  industry  of  recent  introduction. 
Congress  has  passed  laws  intended  to  encourage  tree  planting  on  the  public 
lands,  but  without  extensive  results  as  yet.  But  the  able  and  very  efficient 
Chief  of  the  Forestry  Division  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  has  col- 


11 

lected  and  made  public  through  his  several  reports  a  vast  amount  of  useful 
information  which,  with  his  many  valuable  suggestions,  is  directing  atten- 
tion to  the  great  importance  of  the  subject,  and  is  operating  as  a  stimulus  in 
the  development  of  this  neglected  branch  of  agriculture.  About  one-half  of 
the  several  States  of  the  Union  have  passed  laws  to  protect  and  encourage 
tree  planting  along  the  highways,  some  of  them  granting  a  certain  amount 
of  exemption  from  taxation  therefor,  and  a  small  number  have  provided  cash 
bounties  for  successful  timber  cultivation.  The  State  of  California  gives 
one  dollar  for  each  thrifty  tree  planted  along  a  highway,  after  four  years 
growth.  But  the  association  of  individuals  for  the  promotion  of  forestry 
has  apparently  effected  more  than  has  been  accomplished,  directly,  by  State 
or  Federal  legislation. 

In  Minnesota,  a  State  Forestry  Association  has  been  formed  for  the 
encouragement  and  promotion  of  forest  culture,  by  the  collection  and  diffu- 
sion of  information  on  that  subject,  to  secure  the  general  observance  of 
arbor  day  throughout  the  State,  and  to  promote  the  ultimate  redemption  of 
the  treeless  regions  of  Minnesota.  This  Association  gives  premiums  for  the 
encouragement  of  tree  planting,  in  which  it  has  been  aided  by  legislative 
appropriation. 

The  Iowa  State  Horticultural  Society  began,  in  1872,  to  offer  premiums 
to  encourage  tree  planting,  and  it  has  printed  annually,  for  gratuitous  distri- 
bution among  planters,  a  pamphlet  containing  directions  for  procuring, 
storing  and  planting  of  seeds,  cuttings  and  plants,  with  hints  on  best  species 
and  varieties,  modes  of  culture,  etc.,  for  artificial  forests  and  shelter  belts  in 
that  State.  This  Society  has  also  received  State  aid. 

In  the  State  of  Ohio,  in  January  last,  a  society  was  formed  to  be  known 
as  the  Ohio  State  Forestry  Association,  the  object  being  to  encourage  the 
protection  and  planting  of  forest  and  ornamental  trees,  and  to  promote 
forest  culture — the  seat  of  the  Society  and  place  of  business  to  be  at  Cincin- 
nati, with  provisions  for  branches  in  the  different  counties  of  the  State;  the 
Presidents  of  such  branches  to  be  ex-officio  members  of  the  State  Asso- 
ciation. 

The  first  national  association  for  the  promotion  of  forestry  was  formed 
in  1875,  as  the  American  Forestry  Association,  of  which  Dr.  John  A. 
Warder,  of  Ohio,  was  elected  President. 

Among  the  guests  invited  by  the  Government  to  participate  in  the  cen- 
tennial anniversary  of  the  surrender  of  Lord  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown,  in  the 
fall  of  1831,  were  seven  Prussian  army  officers  bearing  the  name  of  Von 
Steuben,  and  representing  the  family  of  General  Steuben  of  the  American 
Revolution.  One  of  these  officers  was,  at  the  time,  Superintendent  of 
Prussian  Crown  lands.  This  gentleman,  in  the  course  of  a  journey  through 
the  country,  had  noticed  the  waste  and  neglect  in  the  matter  of  American 
•woodlands,  and,  when  at  Cincinnati,  took  occasion  to  mention  the  urgent  need 
of  measures  for  their  conservation  and  renewal.  This  is  believed  to  have  been 
the  first  incident  in  the  movement  which  led  to  a  call  for  a  Forestry  Conven- 
tion at  Cincinnati,  to  be  held  on  the  25th  of  April,  1882,  and  the  following 
four  days.  Many  citizens  of  Cincinnati  were  active  in  making  preparations 
for  the  Convention,  and  funds  were  raised  to  defray  the  expenses.  An  im- 
mense number  of  invitations  were  sent  out  to  all  parts  of  the  United  States 


12 

and  Canada.  Governor  Foster,  of  Ohio,  appointed  the  27th  day  of  April  as 
"  Arbor  Day,"  and  Eden  Park,  in  Cincinnati,  was  designated  as  a  place  for 
planting  a  great  number  of  memorial  trees  in  honor  of  distinguished  persons 
living  and  deceased.  The  Convention  was  largely  attended,  and  its  exer- 
cises were  conducted  with  harmony  and  enthusiasm,  and  the  results 
eminently  satisfactory —the  most  important  being  the  organization  of  a 
permanent  association  to  be  known  as  the  American  Forestry  Congress. 

An  adjourned  meeting  of  the  American  Forestry  Congress  was  held  in 
Montreal  in  August,  1882,  at  which  time  delegates  were  present  from  the 
American  Forestry  Association,  and  this  last-named  Association  then  became 
merged  in  and  united  with  the  other  movement. 

The  annual  meeting  of  the  Forestry  Congress  for  1883  is  to  be  held  at 
St.  Paul,  Minnesota,  in  August. 

This  American  movement  was  evidently  inaugurated  from  the  most 
patriotic  and  philanthropic  motives,  and  the  gentlemen  who  participate  in  it 
are  men  of  learning,  character  and  influence,  of  different  sections  of  the 
United  States  and  of  the  Canadian  dominions;  and  I  regard  it  as  a  most 
hopeful  sign  of  progress,  and  anticipate  that  by  enlightening  the  people  in 
regard  to  these  matters,  and  by  the  influence  and  example  of  its  members, 
the  American  Forestry  Congress  will  lead  in  rescuing  this  country  and  this 
continent  from  the  degree  of  ruin  which  has  befallen  so  large  a  proportion 
of  the  territory  of  the  older  countries. 

In  the  States  of  Minnesota,  Nebraska,  Iowa  and  Kansas,  forest  culture 
is  making  encouraging  progress,  and  on  many  of  the  farms,  shelter  belts  and 
tracts  of  timber  are  becoming  a  part  of  the  system  of  agriculture.  Two 
artificial  forests  are  reported  from  Kansas,  of  500  acres  in  each. 

Timber  culture  is  also  receiving  attention  in  Illinois,  and,  to  some  ex- 
tent, in  other  States. 

Some  of  the  Eastern  villages  have  been  finely  improved  in  the  matter 
of  shaded  avenues  and  tree  and  shrubbery  adornment,  through  the  organi- 
zation of  village  improvement  associations,  and  it  has  been  found  that  better 
results  are  attained  by  this  concerted  action  than  by  individual  effort. 

The  United  States  is  lamentably  deficient  in  agricultural  schools,  and 
as  to  scLools  of  forestry  there  is  but  one  in  America  which  can  be  appro- 
priately so  named.  Harvard  University,  from  endowments  provided  by 
the  wills  of  two  deceased  citizens  of  Massachusetts — Benjamin  Bus- 
sey,  of  Roxbury,  and  James  Arnold,  of  New  Bedford — has  a  professor- 
ship of  tree  culture,  and  an  aboretum  of  137  acres  connected  with  it;  but  it 
is  doubtful  if  this  endowed  school  imparts  as  thorough  practical  knowledge 
in  that  department  as  the  training  schools  of  the  other  continent. 

The  State  of  California  extends  from  32°  32'  to  42°  north  latitude,  being 
about  800  miles  in  length,  and  190  miles  in  average  width,  with  1,097  miles 
of  sea  coast;  and  its  western  border  is  occupied  by  afange  of  mountains 
which  reach  in  places  quite  to  the  ocean  and  form  a  walled  line  of  sea  coast, 
and  at  points  project  promontories  beyond  the  coast  line,  and  at  other  places 
recede  enough  to  leave  strips  of  level  land  and  small  valleys  between  the 
foothills  and  the  ocean  shore;  but  the  general  direction  is  parallel  with  the 


13 

coast.  This  coast  range  extends  nearly  the  entire  length  of  the  State,  and 
its  snmmit  varies  from  2,000  feet  to  about  6,000  feet,  for  the  highest  peaks, 
the  altitude  not  being  sufficient  to  retain  the  snow,  as  Summer  approaches, 
which  covers  it  at  times  during  the  Winter  season;  but  it  serves  as  a  barrier 
against  the  ocean  fogs  and  the  excessive  force  of  the  sea  breeze,  greatly 
modifying  the  climate  of  the  interior  favorably  as  to  bodily  comfort  and  the 
production  of  semi-tropic  vegetation.  And  as  if  nature  in  this  formation 
had  in  view  the  greatest  economy  of  space  combined  with  commercial  con- 
venience and  climatic  effect,  planted  this  range  in  timber  growth  suited  in 
part  for  fuel  and  other  domestic  uses,  and  in  considerable  extent  with  a 
most  magnificent  forest  tree  not  found  elsewhere,  and  especially  adapted  to 
its  situation,  thus  increasing  the  capacity  of  the  range  as  to  its  climatic  in- 
fluence, and  furnishing  at  the  same  time  an  accessible  supply  of  excellent 
timber  and  lumber. 

It  woulcl  be  desirable,  both  with  reference  to  the  saving  of  transporta- 
tion and  as  to  the  meteorologic  effect,  were  the  surface  of  the  interior  val- 
leys alternated  with  a  greater  proportion  of  timber  growth;  but  with  the 
limited  area  of  forest  within  the  boundaries  of  the  State  it  is  distributed  to 
the  best  advantage  for  the  permanent  interests  of  the  population,  as  the  re- 
serve or  remoter  forests  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  cover  the  snow  which  falls 
copiously  during  the  Winter  season  in  that  elevated  region,  and  restrain  its 
rapid  melting  and  the  torrential  swelling  of  the  streams  and  attendant  dis- 
astrous consequences  which  would  result  were  the  extensive  area  of  the 
upper  western  slope  of  the  range  a  bare  surface;  and  the  snow  thus  held  to 
go  off  gradually  in  the  shade  of  the  forests  serves  as  a  lasting  and  perma- 
nent source  of  supply  to  the  streams  of  this  region,  which  water  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  valley  lands  of  the  State,  And  these  forests,  and  the  timber 
and  brush  on  the  slope  lower  down,  contribute  in  other  important  respects 
to  the  preservation  of  the  lands  both  of  mountain  and  valley,  and  to  the  ac- 
cumulation of  moisture  and  the  conservation  of  the  water  supply,  as  is 
proven  by  meteorlogic  observations  in  similar  situations,  and  by  the  results 
of  forest  destruction  in  the  mountainous  regions  of  the  old  world. 

C.  F.  Reed,  Esq.,  at  the  time  President  of  the  State  Board  of  Agricul- 
ture, in  1868,  estimated  that  a  twentieth  part  of  the  State  was  covered  with 
heavy  timber,  and  one-eighth,  more  or  less,  with  trees  of  some  kind;  that 
within  twenty  years  at  least  one-third  of  the  whole  native  supply  of  acces- 
sible timber  had  been  cut  off  and  destroyed,  and  that  judging  the  future 
by  the  past  it  would  only  require  about  forty  years  more  to  exhaust  the  en- 
tire present  supply.  Dr.  Gray  and  others  have  corroborated  the  opinion  of 
Mr.  Reed;  but  Dr.  A.  Kellogg,  in  a  brief  article  included  in  the  last  report 
of  the  State  Mineralogist,  expresses  a  more  hopeful  view,  saying:  "  It  is 
evident  that  the  question  of  timber  supply  is  one  about  which  we  need  have 
little  care  or  anxiety,  if  only  our  resources  in  that  direction  shall  receive 
careful  husbandry."  But  whilst  I  shall  not  express  an  opinion  as  to  which 
of  these  somewhat  conflicting  views  is  nearest  correct,  I  think,  however, 
that  Dr.  Kellogg  has  not  calculated  the  full  extent  of  the  probable  future 
market  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  lumber;  as,  instead  of  going  no  farther  east 
than  the  Wahsatch  Mountains,  as  according  to  the  doctor's  calculation,  the 
eastern  lumber  resources  are  so  rapidly  diminishing  that,  in  my  opinion,  the 
time  is  not  distant  when  California  sugar  pine  will  bear  transportation  and 
find  market  in  localities  even  to  the  eastward  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 


14 

For  building  purposes,  the  supply  of  stone  and  material  for  bricks  is 
apparently  inexhaustible,  and  iron  can  be  utilized  in  that  direction  to  a 
greater  extent  than  it  has  been  hitherto;  and  as  timber  and  lumber  becomes 
scarce  and  high  priced,  communities  economise  in  their  use. 

By  the  adoption  of  no-fence  laws,  and  by  largely  substituting  iron  wire 
for  lumber,  the  amount  of  Jumber  and  timber  being  used  for  fencing  at  the 
present  time  is  very  small  as  compared  with  its  use  for  that  purpose  thirty 
years  ago;  and  other  materials  have  taken  the  place,  and  can  still  further 
be  made  to  take  the  place,  of  timber  and  lumber  for  many  purposes  without 
serious  detriment.  And  it  is  also  reported  that  compressed  straw  furnishes 
as  good  a  material  for  lumber  as  is  manufactured  from  wood. 

As  to  fuel,  nature  at  a  period  when  none  of  earth's  inhabitants  were 
sufficiently  advanced  to  require  its  use,  buried  of  its  superabundant  pro- 
ducts vast  stores  of  fuel  to  supplement  the  surface  supply  in  this  later  period, 
ae  might  be  needed  by  its  teeming  population;  and  the  study  and  investiga- 
tions of  chemists  and  inventors  are  already  opening  out  an  unlimited  store 
of  heat  and  artificial  light  which  has  been  long  known  to  exist  in  one  of  the 
most  abundant  elements  of  nature  but  which  has  hitherto  remained  locked 
up  from  our  use  for  those  purposes  from  a  lack  of  knowledge  of  a  method 
of  obtaining  and  applying  it  with  economic  profit.  Through  the  kindness 
of  Dr.  James  Nevius  Hyde,  of  Chicago,  I  have  received  a  communication 
from  Henry  C.  Rew,  Esq.,  a  gentleman  who  is  connected  with  a  company 
which  is  now  lightiug  the  west  division  of  that  city  with  a  kind  of  gas  just 
brought  into  use;  and  works  are  being  constructed  at  the  Elgin  watch 
factory  to  furnish  gas  for  heating  purposes  by  the  same  company.  The  gas 
used  for  heating  purposes  is  water  gas,  which  is  manufactured  by  decomposing 
steam  into  its  constituent  elements,  oxygen  and  hydrogen,  by  bringing  it  into 
contact  with  incandescent  carbon.  Water  gas  burns  with  intense  heat,  and 
Mr.  Rew  states  that  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  it  is  to  become  the 
fuel  of  the  future,  as  one  ton  of  coal  utilized  in  manufacturing  the  water  gas 
supplies  as  much  heat  as  four  and  oue-half  tons  by  direct  combustion,  with 
the  additional  advantage  that  water  gas  burns  without  smoke.  The  lighting 
gas  of  this  company  is  manufactured  by  charging  the  water  gas  with  suffi- 
cient petroleum  to  make  it  illuminating.  An  inexpensive  process,  as  this  is 
claimed  to  be,  which  increases  the  heating  power  of  coal  four  hundred  and 
fifty  per  cent,  may  certainly  be  classed  among  the  important  and  most  use- 
ful of  modern  discoveries. 

So  that,  after  having  studied  over  the  situation  and  the  circumstances 
bearing  upon  these  questions,  I  conclude  that  although  an  abundant  and 
cheap  lumber  and  fuel  supply  is  desirable,  yet,  with  the  economy  which  is 
practicable  and  the  substitutes  which  are  abundant  as  regai'ds  the  former, 
and  the  modern  available  means  of  distributing  the  great  supplies  of  the 
latter,  with  the  multiplication  of  those  resources  by  the  late  discoveries,  in- 
cluding the  use  and  application  of  electricity,  and  the  facility  and  certainty 
with  which  it  has  been  demonstrated  that  the  farming  communities  can  pro- 
duce supplies  for  themselves  upon  their  own  homesteads,  and  that  although 
wastefulness  of  any  of  earth's  supplies  of  necessaries  is  not  justifiable,  yet 
that  the  means  of  shelter  and  housing,  and  lumber  for  the  necessary  uses  of 
^he  world's  population,  and  the  supply  of  fuel  for  the  purposes  of  personal 
comfort  and  domestic  uses  ;  the  creation  of  artificial  light  wherever  required, 
nd  for  the  production  of  the  great  power  which  keeps  up  the  busy  hum 


15 

of  the  machinery  of  the  earth's  industries  and  the  world's  commerce,  are  so 
much  in  excess  of  the  earth's  prospective  future  food-producing  capacity  that 
there  need  be  no  particular  concern  at  this  period  in  that  direction  ;  that 
the  great  terrestrial  questions  for  the  future  populations,  will  be  the  questions 
of  food  and  of  clothing  ;  and  as  the  accumulation  of  population  favors  the 
development  of  disease  ;  and  as  the  ignorance,  improvidence,  and  wasteful- 
ness of  the  past  has  greatly  deteriorated  the  earth's  general  salubrity  and 
sanitary  condition,  questions  of  combatting  disease  and  of  sanitary  reform 
will  also  keep  pace  with  those  of  primal  necessity. 

Over  the  greater  proportion  of  the  agricultural  districts  of  California 
there  is  a  liability  of  receiving  a  less  amount  of  rainfall  in  the  winter  months 
with  the  excess  of  evaporation  which  may  follow  during  the  growing  season 
than  is  required  to  mature  the  crop  ;  and  this  being  an  understood  fact,  the 
conditions  are  therefore  a  commendable  object  of  study  and  observation, 
with  the  purpose  of  devising  means  of  successfully  combatting  this,  the 
greatest  natural  enemy  of  our  industrial  and  permanent  prosperity.  And 
considering  these  circumstances,  the  proportion  of  woodland  in  this  State  was 
too  small  when  it  first  came  into  the  possession  of  the  American  people  ; 
and  we  have  to  regret  that  instead  of  watching  and  preserving  the  area  as  we 
found  it,  the  denudation  has  been  extended  and  the  limit  of  woodland  still 
narrowed  down. 

The  early  miners  accomplished  a  proportion  of  the  extensive  destruction 
on  the  west  slope  of  the  Sierra  Nevada.  Without  restraint  of  law,  except 
of  their  own  making,  their  temptations  were  great,  and  they  were  so  wrapped 
up  in  the  pursuit  of  the  coveted  gold  that  they  were  unmindful  of  other 
considerations.  But  the  other  causes  of  destruction  are  in  part  still  continued 
down  to  the  present  time,  and  these  should  be  looted  after  and  arrested,  espe- 
cially that  of  careless  and  reckless  fire-setting,  which  is  reponsible  for  much 
of  the  destruction,  with  nothing  whatever  to  show  in  return  for  the  loss. 

On  the  Coast  Range  there  has  also  been  a  marked  diminution  of  the 
timber  area,  both  of  the  wooded  lands  which  were  looked  to  for  fuel  supply 
and  of  the  redwood  forests;  and  the  destruction  from  fire  there  has  also 
been  immense. 

S.  P.  Pharis,  who  has  been  engaged  with  the  industries  of  the  redwood 
forests  of  San  Mateo  County  for  thirty  years,  mostly  in  shingle  manufac- 
turing, and  as  a  proprietor  of  considerable  tracts  of  timber  lands,  has  fur- 
nished the  following  statement: 

"  "We  have  fires  in  the  timber  nearly  every  year,  more  or  less.  The 
most  destructive  forest  fire  in  San  Mateo  County  occurred  in  November, 
1880.  The  destruction  of  sawing  timber  and  other  property  by  that  fire 
caused  a  direct  loss  of  fifty  thousand  dollars,  and  I  estimate  that  the  darn- 
age  done  by  stopping  the  growth  of  pine,  redwood  and  tanbark  oak,  and  by 
killing  the  second  growth  of  different  kinds  of  wood  that  in  a  few  years  would 
have  been  of  great  value,  to  have  been  as  much  more — making  the  total  loss 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  There  was  a  very  destructive  fire  in  the 
forests  of  Santa  Cruz  County  the  same  year.  The  last  foresb  fire  in  San 
Mateo  County  occurred  in  the  Fall  of  1882.  I  have  worked  in  the  redwoods 
of  this  county  for  the  last  thirty  years,  and  I  think  I  can  say  that  the  bulk 
of  timber  destroyed  by  fire  would  equal  that  which  has  been  made  use  of  „ 


16 

although  not  of  as  much  value,  yet  as  much  as  one-third  of  it  was  good  saw- 
ing timber.  And  from  what  I  have  heard  and  know  the  same  estimate 
might  be  applied  to  the  timber  of  Santa  Cruz  County." 

So  much  of  forest  fires  in  San  Mateo  and  Santa  Cruz  Counties  alone, 
the  timbered  area  of  which  forms  but  a  small  part  of  the  forests  of  the  Coast 
Range. 

Our  present  State  laws  for  the  prevention  of  forest  fires  are  nearly  in- 
operative, for  the  reason  that  there  are  not  officers  or  men  employed  to  see 
to  their  enforcement;  and  it  is  quite  apparent  that  our  forests  will  not  re- 
ceive the  protection  commensurate  with  the  interests  involved  until  an  effi- 
cient system  of  mounted  patrol  during  the  dry  season  is  adopted,  which 
might  be  done  by  the  passage  of  a  law  granting  authority  to  organize  dis- 
tricts in  which  to  elect  officers  empowered  to  employ  suitable  men  to  see  to 
the  enforcement  of  the  regulations  regarding  the  building  or  lighting  of 
fires  in  forests,  with  power  to  make  arrests  should  it  become  necessary,  to 
extinguish  fires,  and  to  call  out  assistance  in  case  of  its  being  required. 

In  a  paper  presented  to  the  California  Academy  of  Sciences  by  Dr.  Henry 
N.  Bolander,  in  October,  1875,  occurs  the  following: 

"Another  beneficial  feature  of  the  sequoia  sempervirens  is  the  great 
power  it  possesses  in  condensing  fogs  and  mists.  A  heavy  fog  is  always  turned 
into  rain,  wetting  the  soil  and  supplying  the  springs  with  water  during  the 
dry  season.  Springs  in  and  near  the  redwoods  are  never  in  want  of  a  good 
supply  of  water,  and  crops  on  the  Coast  Range  are  not  liable  to  fail.  It  is  my 
firm  conviction,  if  the  redwoods  are  destroyed — and  they  necessarily  will  be  if 
not  protected  by  a  wise  action  of  our  Government — California  will  become  a 
desert  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word.  In  their  safety  depends  the  future 
well  being  of  the  State.  They  are  our  safe  guard.  It  remains  to  be  seen 
whether  we  shall  be  benefited  by  the  horrible  experience  such  countries  as 
Asia  Minor,  Greece,  Spain  and  France  have  made  by  having  barbarously 
destroyed  their  woods  and  forests.  But  with  us  it  is  even  of  a  more  serious 
nature.  Wise  Governments  would  be  able  to  replace  them  in  those  coun- 
tries, but  no  power  on  earth  can  restore  the  woods  of  California  when  com- 
pletely destroyed." 

Anl  yet  the  warnings  of  Dr.  Bolander,  Dr.  Asa  Gray,  and  other  learned 
and  competent  men  who  have  investigated  this  subject,  have  not  received 
attention  to  produce  any  effective  results.  It  would,  indeed,  have  been  of 
inestimable  advantage  to  the  permanent  welfare  of  the  State  had  our  Gov- 
ernment have  profited  by  the  experience  of  the  nations  of  the  old  world  and 
have  applied  the  present  enlightened  course  of  forest  management  of  cer- 
tain European  nations  herein  referred  to  in  that  connection  to  the  preser- 
vation of  the  limited  timber  tracts  of  this  State.  The  forests  of  both  moun- 
tain ranges  should  have  been  surveyed  off  and  their  boundaries  conspicu- 
ously defined,  and  then  turned  over  to  the  State  Government,  with  certain 
restrictions,  to  be  kept  as  perpetual  timber  preserves,  the  timber  to  be  cut 
only  in  accordance  with  certain  legally  established  rules;  to  leave  uninjured 
all  trees  under  certain  dimensions,  and  on  payment  to  the  State  of  taxes  to  be 
applied  to  defraying  the  expense  of  the  surveillance,  the  maintenance  of  a  for- 
est police,  and  the  work  of  tree  planting  in  any  localities  within  those  boun- 
daries which  were  bare  of  timber;  with  a  reserve  to  the  Government  of  tim- 
ber for  Government  uses,  and,  in  acknowledgment  of  its  joint  suzerainty,  the 


17 

privilege  of  levying  a  light  duty  on  all  lumber  exported.  Such  an  arrange- 
ment, with  laws  regulating  the  use  of  the  preserves  as  stock  range,  and  only 
on  payment  of  State  tax  therefor,  and  prohibiting  such  use  when  or  in  such 
manner  as  might  prove  detrimental  to  the  timber  growth,  would  have 
insured  a  lasting  supply  of  forest  products  to  the  people  of  this  State,  and 
what  is  of  much  more  importance,  would  have  been  an  effective  guard 
against  detrimental  changes  and  irregularities  in  the  water  supply  and  in 
the  meteorologic  conditions  which  the  destruction  of  the  forests  would  entail. 
But  that  opportunity  has  been  lost,  as  nearly  all  the  timber  lands  within 
the  State  have  already  passed  into  the  ownership  of  private  parties  or  of 
corporate  companies. 

At  its  last  session,  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York  passed  an 
Act  providing  for  a  State  park,  to  be  known  as  the  Adirondack  Park,  to  be 
constituted  of  the  country  around  the  headwaters  of  the  Hudson,  and  also 
including  a  large  region  drained  by  the  Black,  Indian,  Oswegatchie,  Grass, 
Eacket,  St.  Regis,  Salmon  and  Ausable  Rivers.  The  principle  object  of 
this  Act  is  the  purpose  of  preserving  the  forests  in  order  to  the  maintenance 
of  the  waters  of  those  streams  for  the  supply  of  canals  and  for  hydraulic 
power.  The  State  owns  only  a  part  of  the  lands  within  the  boundaries  of 
the  proposed  park,  but  by  withholding  lands  from  sale  for  arrears  of  taxes, 
and  by  acquiring  otherwise,  as  favorable  opportunities  may  offer,  the  inten- 
tion is  to  add  to  the  State's  holdings  as  fast  as  practicable. 

A 

In  Wisconsin  there  is  a  project  on  foot  of  forming  a  State  park  of  the 
country  including  the  headwaters  of  the  Chippewa  and  other  rivers.  And 
in  Minnesota,  of  preserving  in  that  way  the  forests  of  the  headwaters  of  the 
Mississippi.  And  as  in  California  the  destruction  of  the  forests  would 
involve  the  destruction  of  every  other  important  interest,  and  as  the  entire 
population  is  therefore  jointly  and  severally  concerned  in  their  preservation, 
by  the  desire  which  all  should  possess  for  the  welfare  and  assured  means  of 
subsistence  of  their  children  and  their  posterity,  and  for  the  future  pros- 
perity and  greatness  of  the  State,  the  forests  of  the  State  should  be  brought 
within  the  security  of  State  control,  and  not  left  to  the  chances  of  individual 
interests  and  individual  caprice.  A  survey  should  be  made  and  lines  estab- 
lished on  both  sides  of  the  western  or  timbered  Coast  Range,  defining  the 
forest  limits,  and  a  line  established  on  the  west  slope  of  the  Sierra  Nevada, 
leaving  the  forest  belts  to  the  eastward,  and  the  State  line  might  serve  in 
part  as  the  eastern  boundary;  and  within  those  limits  the  State  should 
acquire  the  lands  as  opportunities  should  occur,  by  forfeit  for  non-payment  of 
taxes,  by  purchase  whenever  offered  at  low  figures;  and  probably  the  United 
States  Government  would  cede  to  the  State  for  such  purpose  whatever 
tracts  might  not  have  been  disposed  of,  and  individuals  might  donate  tracts, 
after  having  stripped  off  the  valuable  timber,  which  in  time,  if  protected, 
would  grow  up  in  timber  again,  and  replanting  might  be  resorted  to  where 
necessary.  And  as  the  State  continues  whilst  the  lives  of  individuals  termi- 
nate, it  could  afford  lo  wait  for  such  opportunities,  until  in  the  course  of  a 
generation  or  two  it  would  have  acquired  all  the  territory  within  those 
boundaries  as  Public  Forest  Reservations. 

Having  spent  a  good  deal  of  time  in  traveling  about,  and  in  sojourning 
at  different  points  in  this  State  in  studying  the  geographic  and  climatic  con- 
ditions, I  will  now  make  some  suggestions  as  to  what  might  be  done  to  in- 


18 

crease  its  agricultural  resources,  to  favorably  modify  its  climate  and  to  im- 
prove its  scenery. 

The  great  interior  valley  of  the  State  is  about  four  hundred  miles  in 
length  and  nearly  fifty  miles  in  average  breadth,  and  being  almost  destitute 
of  timber  the  wind  sweeps  down  over  it  from  the  north  without  any  effective 
check,  and  at  times  of  low  temperature,  when  in  full  force,  produces  discom- 
fort to  animal  life  and  retards  the  growth  of  vegetation;  and  its  dessicating 
effect  upon  the  soil  and  crops  during  the  Spring  and  first  of  the  Summer 
months  is  frequently  the  cause  of  great  damage  and  sometimes  of  complete 
crop  failure.  And  when  the  crop  has  arrived  at  maturity,  its  force  is  such 
as  to  interfere  with  the  labor  of  harvesting,  and  not  unfrequently  produces 
great  waste  by  threshing  out  the  ripened  standing  grain . 

The  following  paragraph,  taken  from  the  Colusa  Sun  of  June  12.  1880, 
is  an  illustration  of  the  damage  which  may  be  done  by  the  north  wind  at  the 
approach  of  harvest  time : 

' '  We  will  not  get  over  half  as  much  for  our  wheat  as  we  would  have 
gotten  if  all  things  had  continued  as  favorable  as  they  were  three  weeks  ago. 
That  was  the  best  prospect  we  ever  saw,  and  the  county  would  have  aver- 
aged twenty-five  bushels  to  the  acre.  There  are,  at  the  lowest  calculation, 
300,000  acres  in  wheat,  which,  at  tweuty-five  bushels,  would  give  us  7,500,- 
£00  bushels.  We  shall  be  highly  delighted  if  we  gather  as  much  as  4,000,- 

000  bushels  even  of  the  shrunken  wheat,  which  we  shall  have  to  put  on  the 
market  at  a  reduced  price.     We  placed  the  loss  last  week  at  $1,000,000,  or 
over,  but  the  difference  to  Colusa  County  between  the  full  crop  which  we 
expected  and  what  we  will  be  likely  to  get  will  be,  even  at  the  low  price  we 
anticipate,  between  $2,000,000  and  $3,000,000.     And  the  wind  is  still  blow- 
ing.    The  ripe  grain  is  being  threshed  out,  and  that  which  is  still  green, 
shriveled  up.     Tehama,  Yolo,  Sutter,  Solano,  most  of   Butte,  and  the  San 
Joaquin  Valley,  are  in  precisely  the  same  condition.     The  wheat  crop  of  the 
entire  State  will  be  cut  short  nearly  one-half  in  value  by  the  continued 
north  winds." 

It  is  entirely  within  the  means  of  human  agency  to  effect  a  great  change 
in  regard  to  this  disagreeable  and  very  unprofitable  feature  of  the  climate  of 
that  valley.  Could  belts  of  timber  of  forty  rods  in  breadth  be  extended 
across  the  valley,  with  intervals  of  seven-eighths  of  a  mile  between  for  cul- 
tivation, it  would  produce  very  beneficial  results.  On  account  of  the  in- 
creased porosity  and  absorptive  capacity  which  the  soil  would  soon  acquire 
through  the  permeating  and  lifting  effect  of  the  network  of  roots,  and  other 
favoring  circumstances  whioh  are  present  when  land  is  covered  with  timber 
growth,  so  much  greater  proportion  of  the  rain-fall  would  be  retained  and 
stored  in  these  forest- covered  strips  as  to  give  them  to  some  extent  the  char- 
ter of  reservoirs,  which,  being  protected  from  sun  and  wind,  would  serve 
throughout  the  season  by  the  exhalations  of  the  leaves  of  the  trees  to  im- 
part a  degree  of  moisture  to  the  atmosphere.  And  as  the  dessicating  effect 
of  the  wind  is  in  proportion  to  its  lack  of  moisture  and  its  velocity,  this,  ad- 
ded to  the  forcible  resistance  of  the  system  of  cross  belts,  and  the  increase 

01  rainfall  which  might  reasonably  be  anticipated,  would  so  favor  the  pro- 
duction of  full  crops  and  of  harvesting  without  waste,  as  to  add  immensely 


to  the  profit  of  grain  and  hay  raising;  and  under  those  conditions  other  kinds 
of  farming,  such 


as  the  production  of  sorghum,  tomatoes,  melons,  etc.,  could 


19 

be  added.  And  as  the  leeward  during  the  prevalence  of  the  objectionable 
winds  would  be  on  the  sunny  side  of  the  timber,  under  the  shelter  of  the 
protecting  woodland,  the  orange,  the  lime,  the  nectarine,  and  other  semi- 
tropic  fruits  would  flourish  where  now  their  culture  is  impracticable. 

The  general  effects  which  would  be  produced  by  forest  planting  in  the 
Sacramento  Valley  are  quite  obvious,  but  as  to  the  increase  of  the  rainfall 
I  will  add  further  :  An  increased  rainfall  by  the  restoration  of  the  forests,  or 
by  additions  to  the  forest  area,  has  been  noted  in  several  countries.  Ob- 
servations made  in  France  by  A.  Matthieu,  Professor  of  Natural  History  in 
the  Forest  School  at  Nancy  ;  by* Marshal  Vaillant,  at  the  Government  For- 
ests at  Fontainbleau  and  near  Versailles  ;  by  M.  Fautrat,  in  the  forests  of 
Hallette  and  Ermenonville;  and  observations  also  at  Asschaffeuburg,  in  Ba- 
varia, and  at  stations  in  other  countries  in  Europe — corresponding  observa- 
tions being  made  in  the  open  fields  near  each  forest — have  established  the 
fact  that  more  rain  falls  over  forests  than  over  open  fields  ;  and  it  is  well 
known  that  moisture  of  the  earth  attracts  the  clouds  of  vapor,  and  that 
wherever  the  moister  air  exists,  there  the  condensation  will  take  place  most 
rapidly.  If  a  current  of  air  charged  with  sufficient  vapor  under  favoring 
circumstances  to  culminate  in  a  shower,  is  wafted  over  an  expanse  of  naked 
sun-scorched  earth,  as  it  comes  in  contact  with  the  heated  atmosphere  the 
vapor  becomes  rarified  and  expanded  and  passes  off  into  infinity  ;  but,  on 
the  other  hand,  if  a  cloud  of  vapor  is  carried  over  a  forest,  the  lower  tem- 
perature and  the  moisture  of  the  atmosphere  resting  over  it  favors  condensa- 
tion, and  precipitation  takes  place,  and  the  forest  itself  not  only  receives 
additional  moisture  but  open  country  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  partici- 
pates in  the  benefit.  And  then,  in  the  case  of  a  general  rain  in  the  Sacra- 
mento Valley,  the  wind  blows  up  from  the  southward,  and  as  timber  belts 
would  obstruct  the  north  winds,  so  they  would  also  retard  the  rain-bearing 
currents  from  the  reverse  direction,  and  by  the  longer  time  in  passing 
enforce  a  greater  amount  of  preciptation  in  the  valley,  leaving  less  vapor 
to  pass  on  to  the  mountains  beyond,  where  the  annual  rainfall  is  so  abun- 
dant that  some  degree  of  diminution  would  produce  no  injury. 

The  effect  of  a  limited  forest  area,  surrounded  by  a  great  expanse  of 
open  country,  on  the  amount  of  rainfall  is  not  appreciable  ;  but  the  propor- 
tion which  I  have  proposed  would  undoubtedly  produce  a  decided  influence  in 
that  particular  as  well  as  in  the  other  respects  mentioned,  with  the  additional 
advantages  which  would  follow  by  the  modification  of  the  extreme  summer 
heat,  protection  from  the  cold  winter  winds,  and  the  purification  from  all 
miasmatic  effluvia  ;  which  increased  salubrity  would  be  in  itself  an  improve- 
ment that  would  add  much  to  the  desirability  of  that  section  for  residence. 
And  the  thorough  and  successful  cultivation  in  timber  in  that  or  in  greater 
proportion,  would  not  only  greatly  increase  the  general  prosperity,  but 
would  more  than  double  the  value  of  the  properties,  and  with  the  arrest  of 
the  progressive  destruction  from  another  source,  would  convert  our  great 
valley  into  one  of  the  finest  regions  of  the  earth. 

There  are  other  valleys  in  this  State  which  would  be  benefited  by  giving 
more  attention  to  forest  tree  planting.  "Wind-breaks  would  be"  of  great 
advantage  throughout  the  Santa  Clara  Valley,  or  in  any  part  of  it,  for  the 
protectipn  to  the  orcharding  and  other  farming  interests,  as  well  as  by  add- 
ing to  the  beauty  of  the  landscape  and  .the  salubrity  of  the  climate;  and 
timber  culture  would  be  remunerative  for  the  purpose  of  fuel  where  the 


20 

supply  is  as  remote  and  the  price  as  high  as  it  is  in  most  parts  of  that 
valley. 

The  Pajaro  and  Salinas  Valleys  would  both  be  improved  by  the  intro- 
duction of  timber  cultivation.  Timber  belts  across  the  Santa  Clara  Valley 
of  Ventura  County  would  redeem  it  from  its  scourge  of  hot  winds  which 
rush  down  from  the  Mojave  Desert,  scorching  up  its  vegeattion.  In  fact, 
nearly  all  parts  of  the  State  which  are  adapted  to  agriculture  would  be 
benefited  by  a  resort  to  artificial  timber  growth  to  a  greater  extent  than  now 
prevails. 

To  line  the  sides  of  the  highways  with*  trees  is  an  improvement  to  the 
farms  through  which  they  pass,  and  a  benefit  to  the  roads  and  to  the  public; 
and  trees  set  out  on  a  line  at  such  distances  as  to  form  posts  to  which 
boards,  poles  or  barbed  wire  can  be  attached,  have  been  found  to  answer  an 
excellent  purpose; 

The  waste  places  of  all  farms  should  be  set  out  in  timber  trees,  and 
there  is  a  great  deal  of  land  in  this  State  which  is  too  poor  to  cultivate  with 
profit  in  cereals  or  other  farm  products,  which  would  prove  fairly  remuner- 
ative if  planted  in  forest,  especially  in  localities  where  lumber  is  dear  and 
fuel  is  scarce,  and  the  soil  would  improve  under  a  crop  of  deciduous  trees. 

Forest  cultivation  requires  an  investment  which  does  not  yield  immedi- 
ate returns;  but  if  the  trees  are  set  out  as  thick  as  they  should  be,  after 
three  years'  growth  the  superabundant  trees  will  make  fuel,  and  poles  for 
fencing  and  other  purposes,  and  from  that  on  the  forest  will  need  but  little 
attention,  whilst  the  thinning  out  necessary  to  make  room  for  the  increased 
growth  of  the  timber  yields  a  constant  harvest  which  will  last  for  a  long 
period;  and  the  other  benefits  of  the  forest  are -always  present. 

I  have  pointed  out  what  might  be  done,  and  what  would  result  greatly 
to  the  advantage  of  the  State,  and  yet  I  hardly  anticipate  soon  seeing  as 
general  a  movement  in  that  direction  as  I  have  herein  indicated  and  as 
would  inure  to  the  benefit  of  the  people  themselves  immediately  concerned;, 
but  if  the  more  enterprising  will  take  the  initiative,  I  think  that  others 
would  soon  follow  their  example,  and  the  subject  is  specially  commended  to 
the  attention  of  gentlemen  who  are  in  possession  of  large  tracts  and  of 
abundant  means. 

The  only  statements  which  I  have  obtained  of  the  cost  of  raising,  and 
of  pecuniary  results  of  forest  culture  in  this  State,  are  certainly  encourag- 
ing. The  following  result,  by  General  Stratton  of  Alameda  County,  was 
taken  from  an  article  by  Hobert  C.  E.  Stearns,  Ph.  D.,  of  Berkeley /which 
appeared  in  the  January  number  of  the  American  Journal  of  Forestry. • 

"  General  Stratton  planted  forty-five  acres  in  eucalyptus  in  1868. 
Recently  twenty  acres  of  this  artificial  forest  have  been  cleared  to  make 
room  for  an  orchard,  and  after  charging  every  item  of  cost,  and  a  yearly 
rental  of  five  dollars  per  acre,  the  net  profits,  as  shown  by  the  owner,  are 
$3,866  on  the  twenty  acres  in  eleven  years." 

In  May,  1882,  I  took  a  look  at  the  fine  eucalyptus  grove  of  George  A. 
Nadeau,  located  seven  miles  south  of  Los  Angeles  City,  which  consists  of 
nintey-seven  acres  in  eucalyptus,  being  the  largest  artificial  forest  in  the 
State.  The  seeds  were  sown  in  nursery  in  December,  1875,  and  about  six 


21 

months  afterwards— that  is,  in  May  and  June,  1876 — the  young  trees  were 
set  out,  and  at  the  time  I  examined  them,  six  years  after  the  replanting, 
the  largest  trees  were  twelve  inches  in  diameter,  and  the  average  from  eight 
to  nine  inches,  and  from  sixty  to  seventy-five  feet  in  hight.  Recently  Mr. 
Nadeau  has  sent  me  the  following  definite  statement  of  expenses,  and  the 
present  value  of  the  timber: 

Cost  of  trees  at  the  time  of  setting  out,  $7.50  per  acre;  labor  of  replant- 
ing, $5  per  acre;  expense  of  after  cultivation,  $5  per  acre;  rental  of  laud  at 
$3  per  acre  per  annum  amounts  to  $21  per  acre  for  the  seven  years ;  total 
cost  per  acre  for  the  seven  years'  growth,  $38.50.  The  estimated  average 
amount  of  wood  on  the  land  is  thirty-five  cords  per  acre,  which  is  worth  in 
that  locality  $3  per  cord,  in  the  tree,  giving  $105  per  acre  as  the  present 
value  of  the  timber.  Or  the  total  cost  of  the  body  of  timber,  $3,734.50,  and 
the  present  value,  $10,185;  net  profit,  $6,450.50. 

In  a  locality  where  fuel  is  of  less  value,  there  would  be  less  profit  in 
the  production  of  wood;  but  with  that  growth,  the  cultivation  would  still 
be  remunerative  where  wood  is  not  worth  more  that  half  what  it  is  in  that 
part  of  Los  Angeles  County. 

In  the  upper  part  of  San  Joaquin  Valley,  tree  planting  of  any  kind  has 
been  attended  with  very  little  success  except  in  connection  with  irrigation; 
but  by  this  artificial  method  of  wetting  the  soil,  large  tracts  of  that  valley 
which  formerly  presented  a  desert-like  appearance  have  been  changed  into 
productive  farms,  on  which  are  raised  fine  crops  of  alfalfa,  corn,  sorghum, 
and  various  kinds  of  vegetables;  and  a  large  proportion  of  those  irrigated 
lands  are  being  covered  with  vineyards  and  orchards,  the  success  of  vine  and 
fruit-tree  growth  and  the  production  of  fruits  having  been  very  gratifying. 
And  to  add  to  the  future  prospect  of  this  section  of  light  rainfall,  it  has  been 
ascertained  that  when  the  land  has  been  pnce  saturated  it  requires  but  a 
small  amount  of  water,  comparatively,  afterwards  to  keep  it  sufficiently 
moist,  thus  leaving  a  surplus  from  the  lands  first  brought  under  irrigation  to 
be  carried  on  to  new  lands;  and  the  area  of  irrigated  and  moist  lands  is  con- 
stantly being  extended  thereby  from  year  to  year. 

The  litigation  between  the  riparian  claimants  and  the  colonists  is  a  mat- 
ter to  be  regretted,  and  the  fact,  which  has  been  shown  by  experience,  that 
trees  are  more  likely  to  be  injured  by  frost  the  following  Winter,  and  the 
grapes  and  fruits  are  not  of  as  good  quality  when  the  irrigation  is  continued 
until  late  in  the  season,  might  help  to  a  solution  of  the  difficulty,  as  the  time 
of  water-scarcity  comes  after  those  interests  have  done  with  most  of  their 
season's  supply;  and  if  a  compromise  could  be  effected  by  abitration,  before 
a  commission  composed  of  competent  disinterested  men,  and  an  arrange- 
ment entered  into  by  consulting  the  interests  mutually  of  all  the  parties  con- 
cerned, and  the  matter  then  so  fixed  that  all  thereafter  would  understand 
their  respective  rights,  it  would  be  better  than  a  continuance  of  the  liti- 
gation and  uncertainy.  There  are  some  streams  in  this  valley  which  have 
not  been  made  to  do  much  duty  in  the  way  of  irrigation  as  yet,  the  waters 
of  which  might  be  made  available  for  that  purpose.  The  Tuolumne,  Stanis- 
laus and  Mokeluinne  could  all  be  carried  in  ditches  so  as  to  cover  large 
scopes  of  country  well  adapted  to  irrigation;  and  although  it  might  not  be 
profitable  to  irrigate  for  the  production  of  the  cereals,  yet  if  each  farmer 
could  irrigate  a  part,  perhaps  one-tenth  of  his  acreage,  so  that  he  might 


22 

raise  trees,  fruits,  alfalfa  and  vegetables,  it  would  add  greatly  to  his  resour- 
ces, increase  the  value  of  his  land,  and  be  of  general  utility  and  advantage; 
and  at  the  present  low  rates  of  interest  I  think  the  additional  income  which 
it  would  bring  to  the  land  holders  would  be  more  than  the  equivalent  of  the 
use  of  the  money  required  for  the  necessary  improvements.  Besides  the 
advantage  of  the  immediate  increased  production  by  irrigation,  the  arrest  of 
the  water,  instead  of  allowing  it  to  run  off  to  the  sea,  and  distributing  it 
over  the  land,  there  to  evaporate,  with  the  protection  to  the  soil  by  the  sur- 
face-covering of  vegetation,  has  otherwise  a  very  beneficial  effect  in  its  gen- 
eral tendency  of  decreasing  the  excessive  aridity  of  the  climate  of  the  vicinity.* 

I  believe  there  is  a  great  future  for  the  irrigable  districts  of  California, 
but  irrigation  is  something  of  which  the  American  people  have  very  little 
practical  knowledge,  except  what  has  been  acquired  by  the  comparatively 
brief  experience  in  this  State,  and  the  best  methods  of  economizing,  and  the 
most  suitable  times  of  applying  the  water,  are  proper  objects  of  everyday 
thought  by  the  irrigating  planter;  but  the  question  of  the  preservation  of 
the  sources  of  supply  being  at  the  foundation  of  their  prosperity  should  also 
be  made  a  subject  of  study  and  of  watchfulness  by  every  property  owner  of 
the  valley. 

Irrigation  has  a  tendency  to  the  development  of  miasma,  but  I  am  con- 
vinced that  with  proper  management  and  care  there  need  be  very  little  cause 
of  apprehension  on  that  account.  The  surface  of  the  land  should  be  so 
leveled  and  arranged  that  the  water  will  not  stand  in  pools  to  stagnate, 
especially  near  the  dwelling,  and  the  ditches  should  be  kept  cleaned  out  so 
as  to  be  free  from  decaying  vegetable  matter,  and  care  should  be  taken  to 
have  pure  water  for  drinking,  as  the  use  of  impure  water  is  a  very  common 
cause  of  chills  and  fever.  The  surface  water  in  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  is 
generally  unwholesome,  but  by  boring  to  some  depth  excellent  water  is 
obtained;  but  in  any  case  where  it  is  necessary  to  use  surface  water  the  ex- 
pedient of  boiling  readers  the  impurities  inert,  for  which  purpose  an  agate 
vessel  is  preferable.  Filtering  does  not  answer  the  purpose,  as  the  filter  is 
liable  to  become  foul  from  putrefying  animalcuse  retained  in  its  meshes. 

J.  B.  Rumford,  who  has  lived  on  Kern  Island  for  several  years,  states 
that  during  the  first  years  of  their  residence  there,  himself  and  family  suf- 
fered with  malarial  disease,  but  since  having  learned  how  to  manage  they 
are  exempt  from  it.  He  attributes  much  of  the  sickness  in  that  section  to  the 
use  of  surface  water. 

Timber  culture,  where  practicable,  possesses  all  the  advantages  for  the 
San  Joaquin  that  it  has  for  the  northern  division  of  the  great  valley,  and 
forests,  judiciously  planted  with  reference  to  that  object,  are  apparently  the 
only  remedy  which  can  be  devised  against  the  disagreeable  sandstorms 

*Receutly  a  company  has  been  formed  consisting  of  Charles  Crocker,  Esq.,  Colonel 
Fred.  Crocker  and  C.  H.  Huffman,  Esq.,  of  Merced,  entitled  the  Merced  Irrigating  Canal 
Company,  to  utilize  tli  •  waters  of  the  Merced  river;  and  a  canal  of  ample  capacity  is  now 
in  course  of  construction,  from  which  lateral  branches  are  to  be  run  to  cover  a  large  area  of 
the  lauds  of  that  county;  and  as  soou  as  the  improvement  has  sufficiently  advanced,  those 
gentle-men  propose  to  divide  up  and  offer  for  sale  large  tracts  of  their  holding,  something 
•he  plan  of  th-j  Fresno  County  colonies.  The  vigor  with  which  the  work  is  being 
posecuted  and  the  abondant  meaus  of'the  company,  give  assurance  that  this  much  needed 
improvement  so  long  delayed  in  that  county  will  now  soon  be  accomplished. 


23 

which  sometimes  prevail  in  parts  of  the  upper  valley ;  and  wood-growing 
would  certainly  prove  directly  remunerative  there  under  favorable  circum- 
stances. 

Dr.  W.  J.  Prather,  of  Fresno  City,  has  on  his  farm,  a  few  miles  south  of 
that  place,  a  tract  of  eleven  acres,  five  years  set  out  in  black  locust  and 
Lombardy  poplar,  which  have  made  a  very  good  growth,  this  being  the 
largest  cultivated  woodland  I  learned  of  in  that  county. 

The  eucalyptus,  in  the  Upper  San  Joaquin  Valley,  has  in  some  places 
made  a  fair  growth,  whilst  in  other  localities  its  cultivation  has  been  unsuc- 
cessful. This  is  owing  to  the  peculiarities  of  soil  and  to  the  greater  degree 
of  exposure  to  frosts  in  some  situations  than  in  others,  and  in  part,  prob- 
ably, to  the  difference  in  cultivation  and  management;  but  the  experiments 
which  have  been  made  are  enough  to  show  that  the  species  which  have  been 
planted  there  are  not  well  adapted  to  that  interior  climate. 

The  eucalyptus,  first  introduced  into  California  by  Colonel  Warren, 
from  suggestions  of  Baron  VonMueller,  has  already  proved  a  valuable  acqui- 
sition for  timber  culture,  where  there  has  been  a  proper  adaptability  of  the 
species  planted  to  the  soils  and  situations.  According  to  VonMueller  there 
are  one  hundred  and  twenty  species  of  eucalyptus,  and  they  form  the  prin- 
cipal timber  growth  over  the  greater  part  of  the  Australian  continent.  Some 
of  the  species  attain  only  the  dimensions  of  shrubbery,  and  among  them  are 
beautiful  flowering  shrubs,  well  adapted  to  ornamental  grounds;  and  from 
these  diminutive  species  there  are  gradations  in  size,  up  to  species  which 
produce  gigantic  forest  trees,  which  rival  in  height  the  sequoias  of  Califor- 
nia. And  these  numerous  species  furnish  timber  of  different  characteristics 
and  qualities  and  adapted  to  a  variety  of  purposes;  and  among  the  products 
of  the  native  eucalyptus  forests  are  potash,  oils,  tars,  acids,  dyes  and  tans. 
The  different  species  grow  in  a  great  variety  of  soils,  situations  and  climates, 
some  kinds  thriving  in  the  interior  arid  districts,  where  the  heat  is  greater 
than  in  any  part  of  this  State;  other  species,  including  those  which  have 
been  most  cultivated  in  California,  are  found  near  the  sea  coast,  and  other 
varieties  again  cover  the  msuntains  at  different  degrees  of  altitude,  up  to 
the  regions  of  snow  and  sharp  frosts,  and  with  a  better  knowledge  of  euca- 
lyptography  species  of  that  genus  could  probably  be  selected  which  would  be 
adapted  to  any  desired  locality  within  the  State, 

The  railroad  companies,  by  planting  eucalyptus  along  the  lines  of  their 
roads,  have  excellent  opportunities  of  acquiring  information  regarding  the 
adaptability  of  the  various  species.  The  article  by  E.  C.  E.  Stearns,  Ph.  D., 
hereinbefore  quoted,  contains  a  statement  by  J.  R.  Scupham,  Esq.,  of  the 
Central  Pacific,  from  which  I  take  the  following:  The  company  have  planted 
of  several  varieties  of  eucalyptus  hundreds  and  thousands  of  trees  along  the 
right  of  way  and  in  plantations.  About  San  Francisco  Bay  all  species  nour- 
ish, if  cultivated  when  young,  but  most  growth  is  made  by  E.  Globulins,  E. 
Cornuta  and  E.  Gigantea.  In  the  interior  valleys  these  species  will  not 
flourish — are  not  sure  even  to  live  save  in  exceptional  places;  while  the  E. 
Rostrata  and  E.  Viminalis  seem  to  do  well  and  bear  the  frost.  A  rich  soil 
compensates  E.  Globulus  for  some  frost,  as  is  evinced  by  its  flourishing  at 
Delano  and  atChico.  In  a  plantation  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
trees  at  Tipton,  Tulare  County,  well-cared  for,  nearly  all  the  trees  of  the 
first- named  group  died  after  struggling  along  for  two  years,  while  the  E.  Eos- 


24 

irala  and  the  like  thrive,  though  growing  slowly.  The  eucalyptus  now  be- 
ing set  out  are  selected  with  proper  regard  to  local  climate,  soil  and  situa- 
tion, as  well  as  to  the  quality  of  their  wood. 

It  is  well  known  that  forests  purify  the  atmosphere  of  miasmata,  but 
the  eucalyptus  possesses  this  useful  function  in  a  great  degree.  Professor 
Cichi,  of  Santa  Clara  College,  is  authority,  in  an  article  heretofore  published, 
that  Pope  Pius,  in  1868,  gave  to  an  association  of  Trappist  Monks  a  tract  of 
land  near  Rome,  which  was  so  excessively  malarious  as  to  be  uninhabitable, 
on  condition  that  they  should  improve  its  salubrity.  The  air  was  so  bad  that 
during  the  first  four  years  the  monks  could  not  sleep  on  the  place,  but  re- 
tired every  evening  within  the  walls  of  Rome  to  avoid  the  nocturnal  emana- 
tions; yet,  despite  these  precautions,  twelve  of  their  number  died  from  ma- 
laria. But  principally  through  the  planting  of  large  numbers  of  gum  trees, 
the  air  became  so  changed  that  they  were  able  to  take  up  their  permanent 
abode  at  their  abbey,  on  the  land.  Subsequently,  a  law  was  enacted  to  ex- 
pel certain  religious  orders,  including  this  association  of  monks,  from  the 
country,  but  the  Government  remitted  the  sentence  in  their  behalf  on  condi- 
tion that  they  should  set  out  one  hundred  thousand  gum  trees  on  malarious 
land  in  their  neighborhood  within  the  following  ten  years. 

Planting  with  eucalyptus  has  been  attended  with  great  success  in  reclaim- 
ing malarious  districts  in  Algeria,  and  attention  is  being  directed  to  it  as  a 
means  of  reclaiming  malarious  provinces  in  Italy  and  in  other  parts  of 
Southern  Europe. 

Eucalyptus  timber  is  used  largely  in  ship  building  in  Australia  and 
Tasmania,  and  being  torredo-proof,  is  very  desirable  for  piling  where  im- 
mersed in  salt  water,  and  for  other  submarine  purposes. 

There  are  several  stretches  of  seacoastin  this  State  where  the  methods 
of  Bremontier  might  be  applied  with  great  advantage,  and  if  the  Golden 
Gate  Park  Commissioners  had  funds  furnished  to  enable  them  to  raise  a 
continuous  sand  ridge  of  a  hundred  feet  in  height  a  few  rods  back  of  and 
extending  parallel  with  the  beach  from  the  Cliff  House  to  the  outlet  of  Lake 
Merced,  and  fix  it  in  its  place  with  trees,  shrubs  and  grasses  which  would 
thrive  in  that  situation,  a  sheltered  park  of  alternate  forest  and  lawn,  with 
shrub  and  flower-bordered  lakelets,  might  be  created  to  the  leeward  of  it, 
such  as  would  be  the  delight  and  pride  of  themselves  and  their  fellow 
citizens;  and  if  not  permitted  to  continue  until  the  maturity  of  the  improve- 
ments, they  might  take  pleasure  in  contemplating  the  benefits  which  would 
accrue  to  the  citizens  who  will  arise  to  follow  in  their  footsteps  and  occupy 
their  places. 

The  "  Elements  of  Forestry,"  by  Franklin  B.  Hough,  Ph.  D.,  Chief  of 
the  Forestry  Division  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  is  a 
book  of  380  pages,  and  contains  a  great  deal  of  general  information  on  the 
subject  of  forestry,  as  well  as  practical  instruction  for  the  planting  and  care 
of  forest  trees  for  ornament  and  profit.  This  is  a  very  useful  work  and 
should  be  in  the  hands  of  every  one  who  is  in  any  manner  interested  in 
forestry.  A.  L.  Bancroft  &  Co.,  will  order  the  book  on  application,  or  it 
will  be  sent  through  the  mail,  post  paid,  on  receipt  of  two  dollars,  by  the 
publishers,  Robert  Clark  &  Co.,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 


25 

"  Forest  Trees  of  California,"  by  A.  Kellogg,  M.  D.,  describes  our 
native  trees. 

"Eucalyptus  and  Forest  Trees,"  by  Elwood  Cooper,  Esq.,  gives  the 
most  complete  account  of  the  eucalyptus  of  any  American  work. 

The  American  Journal  of  Forestry,  edited  by  the  author  of  the  "  Ele- 
ments of  Forestry,"  is  published  monthly  by  Robert  Clark  &  Co.,  Cincin- 
natti.  Price,  $3  per  annum. 

There  is  no  State  in  the  American  Union  in  which  as  great  natural 
agricultural  resources  are  to  the  same  extent  dependent  on  the  conservation 
of  the  timber  growth,  and  none  in  which  forest  culture  would  produce  as 
important  results,  in  which  there  is  as  much  backwardness  in  that  direction 
as  in  this  State  of  California.  The  reasons  for  this  state  of  things  must  be 
apparent  to  those  who  have  given  attention  to  the  subject,  and  it  will  not 
be  profitable  to  occupy  space  here  in  discussing  them.  The  thing  to  be 
done  by  those  who  are  already  interested  is  to  devise  the  best  means  of  en- 
lightening the  people  as  to  its  utility  and  importance. 

The  few  public  spirited  gentlemen  who  have  hitherto  been  engaged  in 
disseminating  information  pertaining  to  forestry  are  entitled  to  the  respect 
and  gratitude  of  their  fellow  citizens  for  their  laudable  efforts,  bu.  indi- 
vidual effort  is  not  equal  to  the  task  of  doing  what  is  necessary  to  be  done  in 
this  field  for  the  preservation  and  development  of  the  best  interests  of  the 
State,  and  the  old  adage,  "  In  union  there  is  strength,"  was  never  more 
applicable  than  in  matters  of  this  kind ;  and  I  believe  that  those  philan- 
thropically  disposed  would  be  able  to  render  each  other  mutual  aid  and  to 
accomplish  much  more  by  coming  together  and  forming  a  State  Forestry 
Association  after  the  example  of  Minnesota  and  Ohio. 

I  will  close  this  report  with  sentiments  and  language  contained  in  a 
letter  received  at  the  formation  of  the  Ohio  State  Forestry  Association,  from 
that  well  known  statesman  and  philanthropist,  Hon.  Cassius  M.  Clay  of 
Kentucky.  After  referring  to  the  thoughtless  wastefulness  of  the  American 
people  in  the  destruction  of  our  native  forests,  and  the  results  now  being 
experienced  from  the  excessive  denudation,  Mr.  Clay  writes  as  follows: 

"What  we  want  now  is  to  arouse  public  notice  to  the  facts,  and  to 
create  societies  in  the  several  States  to  act  under  the  patronage  and  aid  of 
the  States,  and  all  concentrating  their  experience  in  the  National  Bureau  of 
Forestry,  which  can  unite  with  foreign  societies  and  governments  and  make 
all  knowledge  on  this  subject  of  world-wide  usefulness.  For  it  is  not  too 
much  to  say  that  nations  have  owed  their  rise  and  fall  to  these  laws  of  tree 
growth  and  rainfall,  and  that  our  nation  cannot  live  and  ignore  them." 


20 


PERSONAL   EXPLANATION. 


By  permission,  M.  M.  Chipinan,  M.D.,  read  the  following  personal 
explanation  to  the  State  Medical  Society,  at  its  annual  meeting  in  April, 
1883,  and  which  was  then,  by  a  vote  of  the  Society,  directed  to  be  printed 
in  the  volume  of  Transactions: 

MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  MEMBERS  OF  THE  MEDICAL  SOCIETY  OF  THE  STATE  OF 
CALIFORNIA:  I  wish,  as  a  personal  privilege,  to  say  a  few  words  in  regard  to 
the  Report  which  I  made  to  this  Society  at  its  annual  meeting  for  the 
year  1881. 

Whilst  traveling  about  the  upper  Sacramento  Valley  in  the  Fall  of  1880, 
for  the  purpose  of  acquiring  information  regarding  the  topography  and 
meteorology  of  that  section,  being  frequently  confronted  with  the  deposits, 
I  became  interested  in  the  debris  question.  I  found  Mr.  James  McCona- 
haney,  telegraph  operator  at  Maryville,  to  be  very  intelligent  on  the  subject, 
and  he  was  kind  enough  to  act  as  my  guide  in  examining  into  some  of  the 
great  changes  which  had  been  effected  by  the  filling  in  of  the  deposits,  in 
the  relative  condition  of  the  river  channels,  streets,  property,  etc.,  at  that 
city;  and  then  on  my  invitation  and  at  my  expense,  the  gentleman  accom- 
panied me  to  the  Smartsville  mines,  and  to  him  I  said  that  as  soon  as  I  could 
arrange  in  San  Francisco  to  be  absent  for  a  while,  I  should  return  to  that  part 
of  the  country  and  give  the  subject  an  extended  and  thorough  investigation; 
and  that  was  all  the  understanding  I  arrived  at,  or  pre -arrangement  I  made 
with  any  party  or  parties  in  the  Sacramento  Valley.  In  this  city,  I  said  to 
the  late  A.  C.  Peachy  that  I  was  going  up  the  Sacramento  Valley  to  study  up 
the  debris  question,  to  make  a  report  upon  it;  but  he,  kuowing  something  of 
the  extent  of  the  subject,  was  incredulous  as  to  my  being  able  to  accompilsh 
what  I  proposed  doing,  and  exclaimed:  "  My  G^d!  you  can't  do  it! "  But  I 
assured  him  that  I  thought  I  could  unless  my  h'ealth  failed  me;  and  that  was 
the  full  extent  of  the  connection  which  any  other  party  than  myself  had 
with  the  matter  in  this  place.  In  fact,  I  was  quite  reticent  of  my  intentions 
regarding  it,  as  I  was  apprehensive  that  my  health  might  give  out,  and  I 
should  in  consequence  fail  of  accomplishing  my  pui'pose. 

Of  men  of  character  and  intelligence  in  the  Sacramento  Valley  I  re- 
quested information  of  extent  of  deposits,  damages,  etc.,  as  affecting  their 
own  immediate  localities  and  neighborhoods,  but  cautioned  each  one  to  be 
sure  to  make  no  statements  but  what  will  bear  rigid  investigation,  for  I  had 
rather  make  an  under  estimate  than  to  set  down  anything  in  excess  of  facts; 
and  I  made  personal  examinations  as  far  as  my  time  would  permit,  and  in  any 
case  where  I  had  doubts  as  to  information  received,  I  obtained  other  evi- 
dence, and  continued  to  follow  the  matter  up  until  I  became  satisfied  that 
I  had  ascertained  the  facts.  Throughout  the  whole  affair  I  was  acting  in 


27 

the  fear  of  no  man,  nor  in  the  expectation  of  reward  or  favor  from  any  man, 
or  any  party  or  any  class  or  set  of  men  whatever,  and  the  investigation  was 
wholly  of  my  own  conception,  and  was  entered  into  without  the  advice  of 
or  even  consultation  with  any  person,  and  was  carried  through  altogether 
on  my  own  responsibility,  and  was  altogether  of  my  own  doing,  without  the 
aid  ort  assistance  of  any  party  or  parties,  except  in  the  matter  of  informa- 
tion furnished,  in  accordance,  with  the  statements  of  the  Report  itself. 

As  to  my  personal  expenses  of  steamboat  fares  for  self  and  team,  and 
railroad  fares,  and  hotel  and  livery  bills  and  other  outlays,  I  was  everywhere 
charged  full  price,  and  I  will  assure  the  Society  that  I  made  no  claims  of 
rebate  therefrom;  and  those  expenses  as  well  as  the  subsequent  expense  of 
publishing  three  thousand  copies  of  the  Report  in  pamphlet  form,  and  dis- 
tributing through  the  mails,  were  all  borne  by  myself. 

G.  G-.  Briggs,  the  viticulturist,  after  receiving  a  copy  of  the  Report, 
sent  me  his  check  for  twenty-five  dollars,  as  a  contribution  towards  reim- 
bursement of  my  expenses.  I  re-enclosed  the  check  in  a  letter  in  which  I 
thanked  Mr.  Briggs  for  his  kind  intentions,  but  stated  that  I  had  commenced 
with  the  expectation  of  doing  everything  at  my  own  expense,  and  that  I 
could  then  swear  that  I  had  not  received  one  dollar  for  that  effort,  and  as  I 
preferred  to  occupy  that  position,  I  therefore  could  not  accept  the  twenty- 
five  dollars. 

The  reason  of  my  making  this  statement  is,  that  a  talented  and  promi- 
nent member  of  this  Society  testified,  on  a  certain  occasion,  in  a  language 
which  exhibited  that  he  was  of  the  opinion  that  my  Report  on  the  debris 
question  had  been  gotten  up  in  collusion  with  other  parties,  and  for  another 
purpose  than  that  which  is  set  forth  in  the  Report,  and  with  the  assistance, 
and  even  the  personal  help  of  another  party,  or  of  other  parties;  and 
although  the  gentleman  may  have  changed  his  mind  in  reference  to  the 
matter  since  that  time,  yet  as  I  have  never  learned  of  his  having  publicly  or 
otherwise  so  stated,  and  as  it  would  neither  be  honorable  in  the  individual, 
or  respectiul  as  toward  this  Society,  to  take  advantage  of  a  position  con- 
ferred by  the  Society,  to  make  out  a  Report  professing  to  be  intended  for 
the  public  benefit,  when  in  fact  it  was  only  for  the  benefit  of  the  individual 
himself,  or  of  a  certain  limited  class  with  whom  the  individual  was  in  collu- 
sion and  interested,  I  have  therefore  taken  the  liberty  of  making  this  state- 
ment in  correction  of  any  mistaken  impressions  which  might  have  been  en- 
tertained in  relation  thereto. '  r 

The  life  of  an  individual  lasts  only  a  generation,  but  a  State  is  supposed 
to  continue  for  several  generations,  and  we  may  hope  that  this  State  will  be 
in  existence  and  prospering,  a  thousand  years  hence,  and  the  people  of  the 
future  are  just  as  much  interested  in  the  lands  of  the  State  as  are  those  of 
the  present  generation;  and  when  I  saw  the  great  amount  of  destruction 
which  was  being  perpetrated,  I  concluded  that  they  were  sadly  in  need 
of  a  representative,  and  in  lack  of  abler  or  more  influential  representation,  I 
even  assumed  to  do  what  I  could  in  the  premises  myself,  and  I  presumed 
that  a  reliable  and  truthful  representation  of  the  facts  would  have  an  in- 
fluence in  bringing  about  proper  and  equitable  measures  of  relief;  and  as 
my  labor  was  performed  more  in  behalf  of  the  future  than  of  the  present,  I 
was  quite  well  satisfied  to  trust  my  compensation  entirely  with  the  future. 
And  that  was  the  basis  of  my  calculation  and  of  my  action. 

293167 


28 


The  preceding  Report,  and  the  explanation  regarding  my  Report  to  the 
State  Medical  Society,  for  1881,  were  republished  from  the  volume  of  Trans- 
actions of  the  Society,  in  pamphlet  form,  for  more  general  distribution,  in 

October,  1883. 

M.   M.  CHIPMAX,  M.D. 


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